The Rule
by Rolling Under The Stars
Summary: Tyler and Mallory fall for each as soon as they meet, but Tyler disagrees with Mallory's job. He comes up with a new rule, but it doesn't suit both of them...
1. Lighting Situation

Aiden walked into the dimly lit club dragging Tyler behind him. The music was so loud it made his ears hurt. "Come on dude you're here to have a good time!" Aiden yelled over the music as Tyler looked around frowning.

Aiden guided him to the bar. Tyler didn't even hear what he ordered, he looked up to see what the lighting situation was and as his eyes searched the ceiling, he spotted the tops of some poles. He didn't dare to look down, but curiosity got the better of him and sure enough, there were young girls, probably still teens, dancing and wearing barely any clothes.

Aiden started to push Tyler from behind towards the girls. Despite what Tyler thought, he couldn't take his eyes off one particular girl.

'_She's beautiful,'_ he thought as his eyes skimmed up and down her body. He got angry at himself. That was what he was meant to think. That was what every other guy in this club was thinking too.

He broke his stare at her and looked at the stage floor feeling embarrassed. A pair of very high heeled shoes came into view. _'Oh no, not me,'_ he thought desperately.

"How are you doing tonight?" he heard a girls voice ask.

'_Damn,_' he thought. He looked up, it was the girl who he had thought was beautiful talking to him. She was smiling sweetly and looking sexy at the same time as she sat down and opened her legs in front of Tyler.

He almost couldn't control himself, he tried to look anywhere but the legs that were spread in front of him.

"Um, I'm fine," he finally replied whilst looking into her eyes for the first time. She was wearing a lot of black eye liner but her sparkling eyes pierced through.

"Just fine?" she asked, a pretend frown on her lips. She bent down so her head was inches from Tyler's.

"I can make you feel more than just fine baby." She said in a husky voice.

Tyler swallowed audibly, she must've heard and started giggling. She grabbed his hand and tried to pull him.

Tyler felt lost and frantically looked around for Aiden. He found him amongst a sea of faces grinning at him with his thumbs up.

He pushed through the crowd over to Tyler, "Here," he said, shoving a 100 dollar bill into Tyler's hand, Tthis one's on me", and with that Tyler was dragged away to what he presumed were the VIP rooms which Aiden had told him all about.

The girl opened the door to reveal a room with red lighting. They walked in. There was a chair in the middle of the far wall. Tyler walked over to it and the girl pushed him with her heel on his back. He sat down abruptly.

"My name's Mallory, what's yours?" she said and straddled Tyler.

"Um, it's Tyler" he gulped as he felt himself hardening, this Mallory chick was really turning him on. She wrapped her arms around Tyler's neck and started grinding into him.

"Have you done this before, Tyler, baby?" she asked with a voice of honey. Tyler's head was back, his eyes closed, she felt _so_ good.

"Been to strip clubs? No I haven't." He managed to answer in between moans.

"You should enjoy this then," Mallory replied, kissing his jaw line and then his neck, and licking his ear. Tyler groaned as Mallory's hands went up his shirt.

Mallory went through all the prices of what she could do to him. Tyler was only half listening, he was in pure bliss. "...But only if you have a rubber," Tyler heard her say.

"What?" he asked.

"I said I'll only do it if you wrap up" she replied, tugging at Tyler's pants and unbuckling his belt. The realisation of what Mallory was doing suddenly hit Tyler and he stood up suddenly.

"No. Stop!" he exclaimed. Mallory looked up through her lashes,

"Is there something the matter, Tyler?" she asked politely. Tyler was in a daze for a second as Mallory held his stare with her gorgeous eyes, then he remembered what was happening.

"Yes there is. I want you to stop. I don't want to do this. It's just..." he tried to find the right word to express himself, "Wrong!" He said angrily and tried to walk out the room.

Mallory was at the door before him. Her attitude had changed, she was no longer the sweet, sexy, seducing stripper, instead she was angry, hurt.

"Fine! If you don't want me to blow you, I won't! But you still have to pay me." She held out her hand stubbornly. Tyler gave her evils and ruffled around in his pocket looking for the money Aiden had given him. He fished it out and stuffed it into her bra, ignoring her out stretched hand.

"Happy?" he asked.

"No!" she shouted.

"That was $100! How much do you want?" he shouted back.

"That's not what I meant," Mallory said quieter.

"Oh then, well what did you mean?" Tyler asked, losing his patience and towering over her petite body.

"I...I meant that..."

"Spit it out," Tyler said, growing increasingly angrier every second.

Tears welled up in Mallory's eyes. Tyler's expression softened, he hadn't meant to upset her to the point of crying, and judging by the huge bodyguards standing outside, it wasn't anything he should be proud of.

"What's wrong?" Tyler asked worried, he instinctively brushed her tears away with his hand.

"I don't need your sympathy," she blurted out in between sobs and turned her back to him. She placed her hand on the door handle, ready to leave. She heard Tyler sigh. He placed his hands on her hips and pulled her away from the door.

"Please, don't leave." He said soothingly. Mallory wiped her tears away and tried to put on a brave face.

"I thought you didn't want to have any fun," she mused. Tyler smiled,

"Is that what you call it? 'Fun'?" Mallory nodded,

"You said you didn't want me to do anything to you," she said meekly.

"That was before I saw how cute you are when you get all flustered," he pulled her to him and traced her jaw line with his fingers.

"Now I kind of want to stay, now what were you upset about?" Mallory had a sudden interest in staring at the floor. "Mallory?"

"Um, it's kind of embarrassing now...I...I..." Tyler laughed and pulled her into a hug, he felt oddly protective over her, she was so small and fragile and working in an environment like this worried him.

"Just forget about it. You obviously don't want to talk about it." She rested her head on his chest. She recovered the only way she knew how and hid behind her stripper identity again.

"Tyler, baby?"

"Yes Mallory," he replied sceptically. Mallory started to unfasten his belt for the second time that night. "Do you have a rubber?"

"What?"

"A rubber? You know, a condom? Do you have one?"

"Seriously Mallory? Was this whole thing just a set up to get me wrapped around you little finger and pay you again?"

"What?" Mallory squeaked, genuinely surprised at his accusation. "No, of course it wasn't!"

Tyler angrily grabbed Mallory's wrists, put them firmly by her side and did his belt back up.

"Tyler! Please believe me! It wasn't a set up- you were the one who wanted to leave in the first place!"

He stared at her looking repulsed. "Yeah, too bad I didn't leave back then." He said, breathing deeply, and stormed out the room.

As soon as the door opened, the muffled beat of the music instantly became ridiculously loud again. Tyler pushed through the crowd, Mallory ran after him, she yelled his name, but her cries just got lost in the music and chatter. She continued to run desperately through the crowd, afraid that she'd lose sight of him. She had an advantage that she knew her way round, Tyler on the other hand, didn't. Mallory finally found her way outside, but despite her advantage, Tyler was nowhere to be seen.

She looked back in the club to see if he was lost in there, but no such luck. It was windy and she was freezing. People walking past gave her snooty looks. Tears started rolling down Mallory's cheeks and she wished Tyler was there to brush them away again.

She went back inside, grabbed her big green hoody and walked out again. She'd explain to the manager another day.

She decided to go get a bite to eat, but stopped in her tracks when she saw who was sitting in the window booth of the diner. Tyler. Her heart told her to go up to him, but her head told her to walk on to the next diner. She walked quickly to the diner before she changed her mind.

When she stepped through the door, Tyler's back was to her. She strode up to his booth and sat opposite him, glaring at him. "What the hell are you doing here?" Tyler asked as he looked up.

"Going with my heart," she huffed angrily.

"You don't look too happy about that—"

"Look Tyler," Mallory interrupted, "Please believe me, it wasn't a set up."

Tyler rolled his eyes, "And why should I trust a _whore_?" he hissed, eyes narrowed. Mallory flinched at the word, Tyler smirked.

"Well, what can I do to make you trust me?"

Tyler pondered what to say, "Tell me why you didn't want me to leave when I tried to," he said. Mallory stuck her tongue out at him, out of all the things he could've said, he picked that one. "Are you going to answer?"

"Do you promise that you'll trust me if I tell you?"

"Yes."Tyler said leaning across the table. Mallory furrowed her eyebrows and stared intently at the table. "Ok, well, um don't laugh—"

"Are you ready to order?" a voice interrupted. Mallory exhaled, relieved that the attention wasn't all on her for a second.

Tyler dealt with the waitress, ordering a coke for each of them. "I'll be right back with your drinks," the waitress smiled and walked away. She had wavy blonde hair and pale blue eyes. Tyler stared after her and Mallory had to snap her fingers in front of his face to get his attention. "Earth to Tyler."

Tyler cleared his throat, "sorry."

"What the fuck Tyler! You're totally checking her out!"

"Is there a problem with that?" he asked. But Mallory didn't hear him.

"I'm the total opposite of her, he'll never like me," she said in a mumble.

"Who's 'he'?" Tyler asked snapping her out of her trance. Mallory looked at him blankly. "I asked you a question," he smiled, knowing he'd caught her off guard.

Mallory sighed and leant back in her seat, "You are." she said, defeated.

Before Tyler could react, the waitress had arrived with their drinks. "Thank you..." Tyler searched for her name tag, "Ally, Thanks Ally." He smiled up at her, Mallory kicked his leg under the table.

"Is there anything else I can get you?" Ally asked, her question obviously directed specifically to Tyler.

"We're good, thanks," Mallory said coldly, not even looking at her.

"Alright, well enjoy," she said and walked off.

"God Mallory, just coz you are obviously head over heels for me, doesn't mean the feeling's mutual. Love doesn't always work that way," Tyler said teasingly.

Mallory was going to make a snide remark about Ally, but said instead, "Is it really that obvious that I like you?"

Tyler laughed and leaned over the table like he'd done before. Mallory was momentarily dazzled as his face was so close to hers.

"You're in a nicer mood now," Mallory managed to say.

"Well, assuming that the fact you like me was your little secret, I am hereby obligated to trust you."

Mallory smiled, "Good," she said and started to sip her coke. There was silence whilst they both drank.

"So, you were crying because I was going to leave you? Really?" Tyler asked in disbelief.

Mallory blushed. "It's just..." She stuttered through her sentence, " When you're a stripper, you never have like an actual relationship with anyone, then when you manage to get the one person you actually like into a VIP room, I dunno, I guess I just got excited that I was about to—"

"Touch me?" Tyler finished off her sentence smiling, secretly flattered.

"Yeah, but then you wanted to leave, so..." she trailed off.

Tyler got up and sat next to Mallory. He wrapped an arm around her, "I'm glad you went with your heart Mallory."

She looked up at him, "Me too," she smiled and rested her head on his shoulder. It felt good to have someone so close, protecting her. She felt safe.

Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Ally looking at them, she nestled deeper into Tyler and he surprised her by kissing her forehead.

"That Ally girl is staring at us, jealous bitch."

Tyler chuckled, "You really don't like her do you?"

"Not one bit."Mallory replied scornfully.

"Have you finished your coke?"

"Yup."

"Do you want to go back to my place? I live not far from here." Tyler asked as he brushed a strand of hair behind Mallory's ear.

She blushed slightly, "I'd love to."

"I've got a feeling Aiden will still be at the club, so we'll have the place all to ourselves."

Mallory looked at Tyler, he met her gaze and held it, then they both burst out laughing like school children.

"God, Mallory I don't know how you've done it but you've made me like you within what? A couple of hours?"

"I have my ways," she replied. Her face dropped as she saw Ally walk over to them, a smile painted on her face.

"Have you done with your drinks?" she asked sweetly. Sickeningly sweet Mallory thought.

"Yes thank you." Tyler told her as he and Mallory stood up ready to leave.

Mallory went outside, she needed to smoke. Tyler stayed inside to pay but Mallory kept a careful eye on him. The night air was crisp, and even though Mallory had her jumper on, she started to shiver. Tyler joined her and when he saw she was shivering, wrapped both arms around her. "You're freezing Mallory."

"Well done Tyler, state the obvious."

"We'll get you home soon," he said with a smile and nicked the cigarette out of her hand and started smoking.

Mallory poked him in the ribs repeatedly until he finally took it out his mouth and put into hers. They started to walk down the street. Only the street lights lit the way, other than that, and Mallory's cigarette, it was pitch black.

Mallory was pleased to find out Tyler only lived round the corner, and after walking for a couple of minutes, they'd reached their destination.

"Here we are," Tyler opened the door to the apartment. Mallory ran in, glad to finally be in the warmth.

Tyler turned the lights on and apologised for the mess.

"Trust me, it's a lot better than my place," Mallory said and slumped onto the couch.

Tyler sat next to her, "Tell me about yourself," he said,

"Um, what do you want to know?"She asked, pleased that he was taking such a big interest in her.

"Everything."


	2. Everything

**A/N: **I know technically that if Mallory's 18, Tyler should be like 24 or something, but I wanted their ages closer :) Hope you enjoy this chapter, I'm planning to update on Tuesdays and Fridays :)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own these characters

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**Everything**

Mallory snuggled closer to Tyler. "Be more specific," she said.

"Ok, well, how old are you?" Tyler asked her.

"18, how old are you?"

"22."Tyler replied whilst playing with Mallory's hair.

"Next question."Mallory requested.

"How long have you lived in Las Vegas and where are you originally from?"

"A little over 2 years and I was born in Florida, moved to New Orleans and then here. You?"

"About 6 months I think. I'm from New York but moved to get away from my father. Aiden is just visiting, he'll be gone by the end of the week."

"Why did you move to Las Vegas out of all the places?" Mallory enquired.

"My sister, Caroline, she means the world to me, she's always dreamt of living in Vegas, so I thought if I moved here, she could visit loads and yeah, that's basically it."

Mallory relaxed more on Tyler's chest, "Tell me about your sister Tyler," she said sleepily.

Tyler smiled at the thought of Caroline, "She's 11, she loves art, she's the sweetest person but the other girls at school give her a hard time, I wish I could be there for her more,"

"I'm sure you're the best brother ever Tyler," Mallory assured him.

Tyler kissed her head, "I really, really miss her," he sounded choked up. Mallory still lay sleepily on his chest. She yawned. "You wanna get some sleep Mallory?" but she was already asleep, breathing deeply with her eyes closed.

Tyler stared at her in awe wondering how she could be so beautiful. She murmured something in her sleep and Tyler was worried he'd woken her. "Sshhh" he whispered as he picked her up and carried her to the bed. He placed her down and removed her shoes and then carefully took off her big jumper. Under the hoody she was still in her stripper clothes, red tape over her nipples, fish net stockings and a skirt that didn't cover anything up. He continued to stare in awe at her beautiful body, his eyes found their way down to her skirt and her inner thighs where something caught his eye.

There were purpley bruises all over the inside of her thighs. Tyler was horrified and shook Mallory until she was awake.

"Who did this to you?" He asked angrily pointing at the bruises.

"What Tyler?" she said in a sleep-state.

"Who gave you these bruises Mallory, tell me."

Mallory looked to where he was pointing. "They're from me dancing at the club Tyler, all the strippers get them."

He felt slightly relieved that she hadn't been assaulted, but still he felt angry. He was so confused at how he could be so protective over this girl when he'd known her for such a short while.

He gently ran his fingers over her bruises, "Do they hurt really badly?" he asked seriously.

"Well when you touch them they do." Mallory replied grabbing his hand and pulling it off her legs.

"Oh my god, sorry Mallory, do you forgive me?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood and gently kissed her forehead.

"Hmmmm" she said pretending to be sulky. "You'll have to do more than that if you want my forgiveness Tyler."

He kissed her lips, "Do you forgive me now?"

"Not yet" she said as she rose to a sitting position. Tyler ran his hands up and down her arms and back then kissed her, passionately. Mallory tangled her fingers in his hair and pulled him closer. She trailed her hands to the top of Tyler's pants. He placed his hands on hers, stopping them from moving. "Always so eager," he smiled into their kiss.

She slid under him and pulled him down so he was lying on top of her. "Not tonight Mallory," he said and got off her. He lay next to her on the bed.

"Fuck Tyler, why not?" she complained. She ran her hands up and down his chest and laid herself closer to him, "will you let me try and change your mind Tyler baby?" There was no denying it, Tyler was perfectly open to her changing his mind, he _wanted _her to, but it just felt too wrong.

He shook his head at Mallory, who frowned and sighed. "Why not?"

He thought carefully about how to phrase his answer, "Mallory, I think that sex should be...special."

Mallory started kissing and sucking at Tyler's neck, "This is special Tyler, so special." She whispered into his ear.

Tyler continued, "When two people love each other so much, they should make love to each other, it should be just for them."

Mallory didn't stop her kisses. "This_ is_ just for us," Mallory contradicted, she still hadn't got Tyler's point.

"Sex should be unique to your partner. Something only between the two of them. With you working at that club—"

Mallory stopped her kisses suddenly.

"So that's what this is about? " she shouted, tearing herself away from Tyler, "I'm sorry Tyler, do I suck too many dicks for your personal preference?" she said angrily getting out of the bed.

"Mallory come back here, that's not what I said," he shouted after her,

"No, it's what you implied though," she retorted. Tyler jumped out of the bed and went after her. She walked hastily to the door seeing him come towards her.

"Mallory, don't," Tyler said sternly. But her hand was already on the door handle.

She rattled the door, growing more frustrated, "fucking thing. Open for fucks sake!" she screamed at it.

"It's locked," Tyler said placing his hand on hers and stopped her rattling.

She exhaled, "Tyler, unlock the door." She said as calmly as she could muster.

"Tell me where you'll go if I do,"

"Back to the club, I need more money," she answered, still managing to maintain her calmness, but inside she was bubbling with anger.

"No Mallory I don't want you going back there," Tyler told her, he held her chin and tried to make her look at him, but she pulled away.

"Who are you to tell me what the fuck to do Tyler? You don't even know my fucking name!" She screamed at him, starting to cry.

"Um, Mallory?"

"No, that's not my _real_ name." She yelled, more and more tears streaming down her face. She completely broke down, leaning on the wall she slid down to her knees, sobbing as she did. "Just let me go, please." She begged Tyler, feeling stupid that she'd trusted a guy she'd only just met.

Tyler felt completely crushed and helpless seeing her like this. "Are you sure, you're more than welcome to stay here so you're not alone," he said offering her the best solution he could think of.

Considering the fact that she'd been screaming at him just a couple of seconds ago, Tyler was extremely surprised when she started nodding her head.

"Fine, I'll stay," she said, knowing she didn't really have anywhere else to go apart from her own, even messier apartment. But then she would be away from Tyler, and she really was starting to like him.

Tyler knelt down next to her and stroked her back. Her head was in her hands, too embarrassed to look up.

"Mallory, look at me," he said softly.

He heard her murmur "no".

"Please, Mallory," she was silent for a second but then started to slowly raise her head and look at Tyler. Her eyes were red and watery and black make up was smeared all over her face, particularly around her eyes.

"I look a mess, I know," she sighed,

"Come on panda, we'll get you cleaned up," Tyler stood up and held out his hand for her. She took it and he pulled her up.

"Panda?" she asked.

"You'll see what I mean," he said chuckling at her and led her to the bathroom. When she saw her reflection in the mirror she understood what Tyler had meant.

"Very funny," she said, though hardly amused. "I guess I'm just a sad, sad panda," she said.

"Well I for one think you make a brilliant panda," Tyler said grinning. Mallory rolled her eyes and started washing her face.

"Not for much longer," she began to wash away the makeup.

When she'd finished, Tyler faked looking disappointed, "Aw, where did my panda go?" he said sarcastically.

"Down the sink," Mallory replied bluntly.

"No more sad panda?"

"No more sad panda," she confirmed trying to put a smile on her face.

Tyler pulled Mallory into a hug and glanced at the clock, it read 3:07 am. "Time to sleep I think." Tyler walked over to the bedroom and flopped onto the bed, beginning to feel tired himself. Mallory lingered behind, not sure if she should join him or not. He patted the space next to him, signalling for her to come over. She did so and snuggled under the duvet, but this time was extra careful of what she was doing with her hands. She positioned herself with her back to Tyler on the very edge of the bed, as far away from him as possible.

"Am I missing something?" He asked, confused at her sudden repulsion to him.

"You said we're not allowed to touch," Mallory replied as she made herself comfortable.

"That's not what I said," Tyler moved across the bed so he was behind her. "I believe I said we're not having sex."

"Ugh, you're such a gentleman." Mallory rolled over so they were facing each other.

Tyler smiled at her, "glad you think so." He wrapped an arm around her and moved her closer to him. They lay quietly for a few minutes.

"Why did you invite me here Tyler?" Mallory asked breaking the silence, wondering how she'd managed to charm such a fine gentleman.

"Because I like you." He thought it was obvious.

"Yeah but, it all went so fast you know? Don't people normally take it slow in proper relationships?"

"You really haven't had much experience with this have you?" Tyler laughed.

Mallory shook her head, "I'm basically a virgin when it comes to normal relationships," she chuckled at how ironic she sounded.

Tyler thought about how to answer her question. "I'm just ready, you know?"

"Ready for what though?" Mallory urged him to explain.

"To be in a serious relationship with a girl I love."

Mallory was slightly shocked, "what? As in you're ready to settle down? Like have kids? Fuck Tyler, I'm 18!"

Tyler laughed at how bothered she was getting, "Not settle down exactly, and definitely no kids yet. I just want to be happy... basically I'm just really selfish," he told her.

"I don't think you're selfish, and I've only known you for like one night."

"Exactly," Tyler replied, adding a smirk that made Mallory's heart melt. "Can we sleep now? I'm feeling tired, panda."

Mallory looked unimpressed, "2 more things,"

"Go on," he said.

"Number 1, stop referencing pandas. It's weird. And number 2, what are the limits on the 'no sex' rule. What _am _I allowed to do?"

"Hmm, let me think about it..." Tyler rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling, mentally making a list of strict rules. His eyebrows furrowed in concentration and you could see thoughts flickering through his minds as he thought about the limitations.

Mallory was getting bored.

She started drumming her fingers on the mattress, but her impatience got the better of her and she sat up and straddled Tyler, making him jump. She quickly pulled his shirt off started to kiss down his chest.

"Am I allowed to do this Tyler?" she asked innocently. She could visibly see he was enjoying it.

"I think that would be accepted." Tyler said, holding her hips.

"What about this Tyler, am I allowed to do this?" She circled her hips against him, this time she could tell more than just visibly that he liked it.

Tyler was trying hard to concentrate, "I think that's pushing it Mallory," and as much as he loved it, he lifted her off of him. "_That_ goes against my rules," he said,

"Well, rules are meant to be broken," Mallory said in a sing-song voice, trying to get back on him. Tyler raised his eyebrows at her. She sighed and went back to lying beside him.

"Thank you," he said and went back to snuggling up to her.

"So, just to clarify, as long as I'm still working at the club, the no sex rule will be held in place." Mallory asked.

"That is correct maestro. Now if you're a real genius, you'd figure out how to get round it." Tyler said, hoping she'd quit.

"I know what you want but I'm not going to quit Tyler, how else am I going to get money?"

"Get a new job," Tyler told her, more as an instruction rather than a mere suggestion.

Mallory didn't reply.

"I suppose it all comes down to how much you want to have sex with me," he said, pretending to be serious, he could see Mallory was set in her ways and he didn't want another argument.

She poked him in the ribs, "don't say that, I know you want sex just as much as I do, don't deny it."

The girl had a point.

Suddenly a rattling noise filled the apartment. Mallory gasped and clung on to Tyler in fear.

"It's just Aiden, probably too drunk to unlock the door," Tyler said I went to open it.

Aiden fell into the room, laughing. "Tyler!" he yelled, "Why the fuck have I never been to Vegas before?" He started to laugh again, Tyler failed to see the funny side. He didn't reply, just pushed Aiden onto the couch. "Dude, though seriously, best night _ever_,"

"I'm happy for you," Tyler said, slightly disgusted as he noticed the vomit on Aiden's shirt.

Mallory peered round the door. Aiden noticed her, "Tyler, my man! I'm proud of you, didn't think you'd get one in bed with you I'll have to be honest." Tyler ignored him, not bothering to explain what had really happened.

He walked over to Mallory and got back into bed. "Take no notice of him, he'll pass out soon," he whispered to her and kissed her nose. Mallory rested her head on Tyler's chest, feeling quite tired now.

"Allison," she said softly, "My real name is Allison."


	3. Whoops

**A/N: **This is my favourite chapter so far and I think it's written better than 1 and 2:)) thanks for reading :)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own these characters.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**Whoops**

Tyler woke up late the next morning, happy to see Mallory was still in bed next to him. She stirred in her sleep.

"Good morning," Tyler said softly. Mallory wearily opened her eyes.

"Good morning," she said. "Did you sleep well?"

"Very well thank you." Tyler pulled her onto him. She brought her knees up so they were either side of his body and rested her head on Tyler's shoulder. He stroked her back.

"So, Allison, do you want some breakfast?" Tyler asked politely.

"So you heard that last night?,"

Tyler smiled, "Yes, I think it's a beautiful name."

Mallory shook her, "Call me Mallory," she replied and hopped off the bed to find her green hoody. She found it on the floor and slipped it over her head.

"And yes, I'd love some breakfast thanks," she walked over to the bed and pulled Tyler up.

He walked through to the kitchen and rummaged around in some cupboards.

"I can make toast," he said, finding no food in the cupboards but a loaf of bread.

"Toast's fine." Mallory sat at the table. Aiden was still lying on the couch, suffering from a hangover.

Tyler made the toast and sat down with Mallory. They ate in silence.

Mallory looked around the apartment. Other than the small kitchen, the couch that Aiden was currently occupying and several shelves hanging at wonky angles on the walls storing various items, the apartment was fairly bare. There were two light bulbs hanging from the ceiling with exposed wires around them. One shone brightly and one flickered every couple of minutes. The walls had no wallpaper or pictures, instead cracks ran out from the corners and skirting board. The kitchen area had a tiled floor, whereas the living space had a carpet that was stained from dirty footprints. Although overall the apartment may have seemed to be quite dingy to an outsider, the surfaces were perfectly clean and air fresheners on the window sills tainted the air with sweet aromas. Dim morning light shine through the few small windows which were half covered with plain blue curtains.

Mallory's eyes strayed to the floor and noticed there was a guitar lying in the corner.

"You play the guitar?"

Tyler looked embarrassed, "Yeah, but not very well."

"I'm sure that's not true," Mallory stood up and fetched the guitar. She walked back to the table and held it out for Tyler to take.

"No Mallory," he carried on eating his toast.

"Please, for me," she begged.

"It'll wake Aiden," Tyler tried to think of excuses.

Mallory walked over to Aiden and poked him. He didn't even flinch. "I don't think you need to worry about him." And she walked back to Tyler, placing the guitar on his lap.

He picked it up and put it back where it came from. He could see Mallory was disappointed.

"Maybe another time," he kissed her forehead.

"Fine," she gave in and ate the rest of her toast. She munched thoughtfully, thinking about the day ahead.

"I need to go back to my place to get some clothes."

"We can do that now if you want." Tyler cleared away the plates.

"Ok, let's go," Mallory said quickly, eager to be in something decent rather than her stripper outfit. "I don't live too far away, we can walk."

Tyler put his jacket on and tried to wake Aiden up to tell him where they were going. He threw a cushion at him but he just rolled over and ignored him. Mallory took hold of Tyler's hand, pulling him towards the door.

"Just leave him, we'll be back soon anyway," she unlocked the door and pulled him through. Tyler started laughing at her.

"What?" she said in a whiny childish voice. "Well, excuse me for wanting to be in clothes that actually cover my ass." And she walked briskly away.

Tyler walked after her, amused. He caught her up and held her hand and squeezed it.

"I understand," he said and slowed their pace down.

It literally only took a couple of minutes to reach Mallory's apartment. Once they were there Mallory unlocked the door and let Tyler in. He looked around. The apartment was pretty much one big room, it was spacious as there wasn't much furniture. The living area was made up of a sofa, a lamp that didn't shine very bright and a rundown television that looked as though it may not work.

"Don't even comment on the mess," she said opening her wardrobe. She searched through the clothes, sliding the clothes hangers across as she dismissed most of the items.

"You're so uptight Mallory, it's fine in here," he stepped over a pile of clothes and sat on the couch.

Mallory had gotten out a pair of baggy jeans and a shirt. She turned around to change her underwear.

"I have seen women naked before," Tyler said, smiling.

"Well," Mallory didn't turn around, "I wouldn't want to tease you, what with your 'no sex' rule and everything."

Tyler walked over to her, she was trying to fasten her bra. Her fingers kept slipping.

"Fuck."

"Need help?"

Mallory jumped. She hadn't realised he was that close. "No I can do it," she tried again, determined to succeed. Her fingers fumbled, maybe because she felt so self conscious and stupid in front of Tyler. But this time she managed to fasten it.

Tyler applauded her.

"Oh I can't control my laughter," Mallory retorted sarcastically. She stood in her jeans and bra, still with her back to Tyler. She felt Tyler's cool hands on her hips, her skin was oddly hot and her face slightly red with frustration.

Tyler started to kiss her shoulders then turned her around and covered her lips with his. To Mallory's surprise, Tyler picked her up and placed her onto the bed. She rolled on top of him; she preferred it that way round.

She was finding it hard to restrain herself, but didn't want to break The Rule.

Mallory licked Tyler's lips, begging for her to let her in. "Tyler," she pleaded, and to Mallory's shock, he obliged. Their tongues touched for the first time and Mallory felt her heart rate increase.

Tyler continued to stun Mallory even more as he began to unfasten her bra.

"I don't want you to do anything you don't want to do Tyler." She said.

"I want to, it's not breaking The Rule," he said slightly breathlessly in a voice much deeper than normal. He threw her bra onto the floor.

Mallory took this as the go-ahead and pulled Tyler's shirt off, throwing that on the floor too. Their naked chests touched and they both moaned into their kiss.

Their kiss become more and more desperate - desperation for each other.

Tyler rolled them over, but then Mallory rolled them over again.

Tyler laughed and rolled them over again, completely oblivious to the fact they were at the edge of the bed. Mallory fell off the edge, scraping her back on the bed-side unit as she collapsed onto the floor. She felt a sudden searing pain coming from her back. She looked up at Tyler, who was trying not to laugh. Mallory tried to smile and pretend she was okay.

"Whoops," was all she could say, the ever increasing pain was bringing her close to tears. Not wanting to disrupt the intimacy she was finally having with Tyler, she fought back the tears and allowed him to lift her back up onto the bed.

Tyler wrapped her up in a hug. "Whoops indeed."

Mallory winced as he touched the wound, but she couldn't stop herself from an 'ouch' escaping her lips.

Tyler had felt the raw skin on her back and unravelled his arms. His hand was covered in her blood. "Oh my god!" he said, astonished, regretting that he'd laughed at her.

"It's fine Tyler—"

He turned her around to examine the damage. A huge, bloody gash spread across the top left side of Mallory's back. Tyler's mouth dropped open at the severity of the wound. Mallory tried to turn back round but Tyler held her there.

"Holy shit! Where's the first aid box?" He asked, urgency crept into his voice.

Mallory was in a lot of discomfort, but didn't want to show it. She didn't want a fuss.

"Um, I don't really have one..."

"Do you have bandages?" Tyler had already run out and was rapidly searching through all the drawers and cupboards. Before Mallory could reply, he found bandages and plasters in the back of a cupboard. Relief washed over his face. He fetched a clean towel and soaked it then ran quickly back to Mallory who was sitting helplessly on the bed.

He pushed her hair to in front of her shoulders. Some strands were caught in the blood and required Tyler to pull them out individually. They stuck to her skin and Mallory flinched. Tears that she'd tried to hold in all came out at once and she sat there sobbing.

Tyler could only watch her cry as he tried to work swiftly to clean up the wound and put the bandages on. Once they were on he applied pressure by hugging her again.

She cried into Tyler's shoulder. He tried to soothe her, but she couldn't stop. The pain was too much.

"It really hurts Tyler," she managed to say.

Tyler rocked her, keeping an eye on her back. The bandage was already soaked through with blood. The stuff was even seeping out the sides.

Tyler found another, bigger bandage and took off the first one. A stream of blood was still steadily flowing out. Slightly repulsed, he put the new bandage on.

"It's still bleeding quite heavily," he told Mallory, not wanting to scare her too much. Although the truth was that it just wouldn't stop.

Tyler's first aid skills pretty much ran out, he didn't know what to do; Mallory was still obviously in a lot of pain and crying, and blood still managed to gush out of her back.

"I think we should get you to hospital," all Tyler could think about were all the stories and news reports he'd heard about too much blood loss. He knew this could be more serious than he initially thought.

Mallory didn't say anything, just got dressed and continued to cry. Tyler hated seeing her like this.

She winced as she fastened her bra and it tightened over the wound. She pulled on a big hoody and let Tyler lead her to his car back at his apartment.

Walking down the street was torture for Mallory. She hated that all the strangers passing by could see her in this state, but still, she could not stop the tears as long as the pain was still there. Which it very much was.

Tyler drove the car faster than he should, but he was desperate to get help for Mallory. They turned into the parking lot and walked into the hospital. They waited in the queue for reception. Tyler felt more hopeful, but his hopes were quickly crushed when each time, he heard the receptionist say "I'm sorry, did you make an appointment?" Then promptly sending the patient away, usually with an appointment in over a week's time.

As soon as it was his turn to be seen to he immediately blurted out that he needed help urgently. He showed the receptionist Mallory's back. He didn't even need to take her hoody off, the blood had seeped through and made the material stick to her skin. The receptionist was a little surprised and called through for help straight away. Tyler heard her mumble something about an emergency.

Mallory was in so much pain now that she didn't even notice everybody else in the waiting room staring at her. But Tyler did and turned her around so her back was to the receptionist.

"Someone will be through soon," the receptionist told Tyler, and they were ushered into an examination room.

The room was stark white and their eyes had to adjust to get used to the bright lighting. A typical hospital bed took up most of the room, along with important looking machinery and equipment Tyler daren't even touch. Mallory sat on the bed, her head down and her shaking shoulders slumped.

A youngish girl with a clipboard came bustling in with a smile on her face. She was wearing a white coat and had pens poking out of her pockets.

"What can I help you with today then?" she asked with utmost politeness. She seemed far too enthusiastic to be working in such a depressing place.

Mallory didn't say anything so Tyler replied, "Um, my..." he thought about if he should refer to her as 'girlfriend' or not, "My friend has hurt her back and it doesn't seem to be stopping bleeding." He helped Mallory take off her hoody.

"I see," said the girl in the white coat, inspecting the wound, "I'll need to clean up the blood to get a better look at it though," she handed some forms to Tyler. He looked at them, they were just basically asking about the injury; time, day, where, when...how.

He filled out the first questions but left the last one out of embarrassment.

"Sweetie, would you mind if you unfastened your bra, it's interfering with the injury." Mallory unhooked it.

"Thanks," the lady said. She dabbed at the blood using a clear liquid, warning Mallory that it might sting a little.

As soon as the liquid had seeped through to the actual wound, Mallory gasped as the pain rapidly increased.

Tyler sat with her for support. Mallory held his hands so tight that her finger nails were digging into his skin.

"Must've been quite an accident to cause harm under the straps as well," the girl said.

Without thinking, Tyler replied, "she wasn't wearing her bra," then immediately regretted it. This lady was probably more that capable to put two and two together.

She smiled but didn't say anything. She glanced at the forms, "Please could you complete that form sir,"

Tyler unwillingly left Mallory and attempted the last question. He racked his brain for what to put and settled on 'fell off bed'. He thought that would be sufficient. He went back over to Mallory. The blood had almost completely gone but he could clearly see that it was a very deep gash in her skin. The girl in white made her final decision and informed Mallory that she needed stitches.

Mallory had finally stopped crying but almost started again when she heard that news. She'd never had stitches before and was scared.

Tyler tried to comfort her, she was more in shock than anything. The girl, who turned out to be a nurse, explained the process of having stitches, constantly assuring them that it will all be fine.

"You needn't worry, it's a common procedure," she said matter of factly and rifled through some papers. She asked Mallory if she had any allergies.

"Not that I know of," she replied, growing more frightened.

The nurse took a pen out of her pocket and scribbled something on the papers. Then she collected the forms Tyler had filled out.

Tyler saw her eyes go straight to the last question, he looked away not wanting to see her reaction and turned his attention to Mallory.

She was still slumped next to him on the bed and was staring down at the floor. She was wringing her hands and bouncing her leg up and down.

Tyler wrapped his arms around her, being extra careful not to touch the sore part of her back, and gently placed his hand on her leg.

She stopped shaking.

"How are you feeling?"

She looked up at him with red rimmed eyes.

"Terrified."


	4. Lost

**A/N: **Ok so here's my first chapter using TPOV and MPOV. I wanted this chapter to be kinda panicky and frenzy-ish, so I switch between the two POVs a lot! Hope you like it!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own these characters.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**Lost**

**Tyler's POV**

I paced up and down my room. I glanced at the clock; it'd been 47 minutes and 51 seconds exactly.

52.

53.

54.

55...

Why hadn't she called me? Had something gone wrong? Was she okay?

58.

What should I do?

48 minutes.

I got my phone out and typed.

_Are u ok? _

Send.

I heard vibrating, Mallory's phone was on the table. Ugh.

The anxiety was killing me, torture. I needed her back with me, safe in my arms.

They'd told me to go home, and she didn't even protest. She didn't want me. She didn't need me.

It was all my fault in the first place. I've only made her life worse since she met me. I thought I could help her, but I've just done the opposite.

It's no wonder that she didn't want me to stay. Of course I wasn't good enough for her, why had this only hit me now? She could work as a stripper every single night for the rest of her life, and still be perfect. Allison, Mallory...whatever she wanted to be called, was the most perfect girl I'd ever met, and I loved her.

But she didn't need me. We'd gone too fast, Rule or no Rule, I'd messed us up. She deserved so much more than me, we knew next to nothing about each other, but yet we'd persevered.

I needed to smoke.

**MPOV**

My back hurt. Badly.

Fuck this day had gone way downhill after the amazing high this morning. I was finally breaking through to Tyler, his shirt was _off. _We were on the bed. But, yeah...seconds later I was on the floor. Stupid fucking bed side unit.

The people at the hospital had me loaded up with pain killers, they obviously hadn't started to work yet. I just needed to wait for the doctor to come back, then hopefully they'd let me out of this awful place. All I wanted to do was pick up where Tyler and I had left off, but I feared he would be even more reluctant than ever now. Especially after what had happened, he'll probably blame himself and refuse to even hold my hand.

There's been a lot of shit in my life but nothing has ever felt more right than being with Tyler. But the danger of the whole 'I think we rushed it,' or, 'I'm not ready,' thing was always lingering on my mind. Yes, we'd been together for a matter of days, hours even. I didn't even know if we were 'together'. All I knew was that I was drawn to him, and whatever the reasons for that were irrelevant.

They'd stitched my wound up, one of the most uncomfortable experiences of my life. But it was done now, I kind of hoped it would take long to heal so I could get more time off work. No club means no Rule. Clever thinking Mallory.

The doctor came back, "You're free to go, just take it easy for a while and if you think anything is wrong, don't hesitate to give us a call," he smiled at me.

"Thanks," I said, and hurried out as quickly as possible. Once I was outside I delved in my pocket for my cell. My pocket was empty. No this was not happening. I searched my other pockets, nothing there either. Great, just great. I was stuck in a hospital with no means of communication. I didn't know Tyler's number so I couldn't use another phone. This day was getting worse and worse.

A slumped down onto a nearby bench to think about how I could get back home, back to Tyler.

The over enthusiastic nurse who had originally seen to me walked by. She noticed me sitting alone on the bench and walked over to me.

"Mallory, is it? Is everything alright?" She looked down at me with kind eyes.

"Um, not really, I forgot my phone and can't call Tyler to come get me."

"Tyler? The guy who was with you earlier on?"

I nodded. She sat down next to me.

"Is he your boyfriend?" She asked.

I thought about this. Was he? I mean, we hadn't known each other for long at all, but when we were together it just felt... like love? I don't know, I'd never been in love before.

"I'm not sure," I said, realising I was taking too long to answer a simple question.

She smiled, almost apologetically, at me. She picked up her bag and rummaged around in it, finally pulling out a phone.

"Here," she held out her phone for me, "you can use mine."

I didn't take it, "Thanks but I don't know his number," I felt embarrassed.

She raised her eyebrows, "well that's okay, I can drive you if you want,"

"Really?"

"Sure!" She put her phone away and stood up. "My car's just over here, employees get special parking," she pointed towards the reserved signs.

I stood up and followed her over to the car, "Thanks," I said and got in.

**TPOV**

I was thinking about driving to the hospital myself, but I was positive she would be done by now. She hadn't contacted me, even without her phone, couldn't she use somebody elses? Maybe she didn't know my number off the top of her head.

A knock at the door made me jump. I sprinted over to open it.

"Mallory?"

"Was that her name? " Aiden replied stepping into the room. Ugh. "Probably screwing someone else already."

"Don't say that."

"Dude it's true!"

"Shut up Aiden, it wasn't like that."

Annoyingly, he just grinned back at me, I scowled at him.

"Seriously, we didn't even have sex so wipe that grin off your face."

He looked surprised. "I know I was far from sober last night, but I'm pretty sure you guys were in bed together."

I was losing my patience, "Well, she's gone now, I left her at the hospital and she left her phone here." He laughed.

"It's not funny, I don't know how to find her!" I said angrily.

"Maybe she doesn't want to be found."

I let his words linger in the air as I allowed them to sink in. Maybe he was right.

Aiden grabbed a beer from the fridge and went out again. I was alone once more.

Even if Aiden had actually spoken the truth, I still wanted to find her. I missed her. There was a part of me that told me to look for her, that she hadn't just walked away. But what if Aiden was right, she wouldn't want me to look for her, maybe I should let her be. I thought...

No. Not possible. I had to find her one way or another.

I picked up my keys and Mallory's phone and headed to my car. She may not be at the hospital but it was worth trying her place.

**MPOV**

The journey to my place wasn't as awkward as I thought it was going to be. We talked about the hospital and injuries of today. She didn't ask my name and I didn't ask hers. I managed to sceptically avoid telling her what my job was. But most of all we talked about my back. She told me a load of science stuff which I didn't understand. I pretended to listen, she seemed to fall for it. I just nodded and smiled.

I guided her to my place where I thanked her and got out. She said it wasn't a problem and then drove away.

I had a flicker of hope that Tyler would be waiting for me, but he wasn't. I wasn't too worried. I was sure I'd find him sooner or later. Preferably sooner.

I didn't really know what to do with myself. The doctor had told me to take it easy, so I went to lie on the couch.

Boring.

I got up and tidied some stuff away. The floor was a bit clearer now. At some point I'd also need to phone the club and tell them I can't work.

I formed a plan in my head: go to club, stop off at Tyler's on the way home.

I set off.

**TPOV**

I couple of minutes later I arrived at Mallory's. At least I'd remembered where she lived- maybe things were getting better at last.

I walked up to her door and knocked.

No answer.

I waited longer, then knocked again.

Still nothing. Maybe she was sleeping. I slipped her phone through her mailbox. I winced as I heard it thump on the floor- I hope I hadn't broken it.

It looked as though she wasn't in. Where could she possibly be, this was so frustrating!

I leant against the wall, wondering what to do. The most logic thing to do would be to go home and wait for her. But what if she was purposely ignoring me?

I was actually starting to get seriously worried now. Was she still at the hospital after all? Maybe the stitches had gone wrong or she'd reacted badly. Not having her with me was one thing, but just not knowing where she was was completely driving me mad!

I got back in the car and drove home. Maybe calling Caroline would cheer me up. I'd do that when I got back.

**MPOV**

I'm not gonna lie, I kinda made out my injury to be much more serious than it actually was when I visited the club. I practically limped in and told the manager I didn't think I would be able to make it for the next couple of nights. He seemed to understand. I didn't loiter, so just left and set off to Tyler's place.

I got lost on the way there. I felt bad, Tyler would have known exactly where I lived, yet I couldn't find his apartment. I made a few more random turns and eventually began to get my bearings. I recognized his place and went up to his door.

I knocked, but no one answered. I knocked again, harder. Silence.

Damn, where was he?

And where was Aiden? Or were neither of them home? I looked round and his car wasn't there either.

As I walked back to my car, another one pulled up beside me. I recognized it and suddenly my heart leaped as I realised it was Tyler's. He spotted me through the window and smiled. He hurriedly climbed out and basically threw himself at me, wrapping his arms tightly around my waist.

"You seem happy to see me," I said into his chest.

"Oh my god Mallory I was so worried," he held my head in between his hands and lifted it up so I was looking at him. He kissed my forehead. My heart fluttered, no one had ever bothered to worry about me before.

"You didn't need to worry about me Tyler."

"I didn't know where you were," he squeezed me even more tightly. "How is your back?" He pulled away from me and held me at arm's length.

I rolled my eyes as he turned me around and examined me. "It's fine, they gave me pain killers so it doesn't even hurt anymore."

He turned me back round, "Good," he said and smiled at me again. For a moment I was completely lost in his eyes.

"Um, I was just on my way home," I managed to say.

"Oh no, you're staying here with me." And he pulled me to the door. I liked this new, almost bossy, Tyler.

He unlocked the door and let me in.

"I dropped off your phone at your place if you're wondering where it is." He went over to the table to put his keys down.

"Thanks," I said and walked over to him. He turned to me and wrapped me in a hug again.

"I missed you," he gently rocked us side to side.

I sighed, "I wasn't gone for long."

"But still." He lifted my chin up and kissed me.

**TPOV**

I felt Mallory's hand creep up my shirt.

"You know I'm not working at the moment." She said in what I presumed to be her 'sex voice'. She was obviously trying to find ways around The Rule.

"Surely if you can't work at the club, you're too injured to do anything with me as well," I teased her.

She took her hands out from under my shirt and poked my chest.

"Ouch!"

"Ugh you're such a pussy."

I laughed at her. "I'm not going to break my own rule you know."

She looked up at me, "Well! It was worth a try." And she went to lie on the couch.

"Is that it? You're giving up?" I looked at her doubtfully trying to figure out her plan.

"Oh, I never give up," she smirked at me. I lifted her legs up and sat on the couch with her, she rested her legs across my lap.

"You're scheming something," I took her shoes off and placed them on the floor. She flexed her feet.

"Not me, surely!" she said innocently. But she couldn't keep a straight face and burst out laughing.

She laughed in the cutest way, her nose scrunched up and her eyes squinted, but you could still see them sparkling. Her giggle was infectious and made me smile too.

"Do you want to come to New York with me?" I said out of the blue.

She seemed taken aback with my sudden offer.

"Aiden's going back and I figured we could go visit my sister as well."

She sat up curled up into my chest. "I'd love to Tyler."

I stroked her hair, happy that she'd agreed.

"When do we go?" she asked.

"Tomorrow."


	5. Preparation

**A/N: **Thanks to everyone who is reading this fic and reviewing! Have a good weekend everybody...

**Disclaimer: **I don't own these characters.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**Preparation**

**TPOV**

As soon as we had arranged our trip for the next day, we started packing. We didn't know how long we'd be in New York for, so we just chucked a whole load of clothes in a suit case. We drove to Mallory's to pick up more clothes and some toiletries.

When we arrived, it was beginning to get dark outside, I'd had a long day and I began to feel tired. I slouched onto the couch to rest whilst Mallory hurried around trying to find things for the journey.

I lay my head back and stared up at the ceiling, my eyelids began to feel heavy so I closed my eyes.

"Someone's sleepy," I heard Mallory say from the other side of the room. I kept my eyes closed, but smiled. I heard her footsteps get louder as she walked over to me. I opened one eye to look at her. She was standing in front of me with her arms crossed, "Are you going to help me?"

I laughed sleepily, "No."

"Tyler! What happened to being a gentleman?" She tried to grab my hand and pull me up. I resisted.

I opened both eyes and took hold of her hips to pull her over to me. She tried to wriggle free of my grip, but I held her firmly.

"Come here," I said soothingly. She continued attempting to break free, determined to pack everything before tomorrow's journey.

"Mallory, come here," I repeated. She was stubborn, but eventually gave in and sat with me. I moved so my arms were around her and she snuggled up to me. This way I felt like I was protecting her, keeping her safe.

"We need to pack," she mumbled, I could tell she was slightly irritated that she'd given in to me.

I kissed her forehead, "We'll pack later."

"There is no later, we need an early night for the early start tomorrow morning."

I rolled my eyes at her, who knew she could be so organised and well prepared.

"We've packed almost the entire contents of both mine and your apartments, what else could you possibly need to take?"

It was her turn to roll her eyes at me.

"Well?" I asked.

"Ugh I suppose you're right, we're done packing now," she said.

"Oh I'm always right." I said lifting her up so she was sitting on me. She wrapped her hands around my neck and bent down to kiss me.

"Always?" She whispered in my ear.

"Always." I confirmed. She giggled in my ear.

She trailed kisses down my jaw line and neck. I let her continue, if she went too far I would stop her, but for now it felt good.

She stopped and sighed at me.

"Is there a problem?" I asked confusion clear in my voice.

"You're not doing anything Tyler," she whined.

"What do you mean?" I looked at her, still confused.

"You're not giving anything back, do you not like what I do to you?" She looked hurt.

I was surprised by what she'd said.

"I love what you do Mallory, I love you."

She climbed off and stood in front of me.

"But that's the thing Tyler! How can you know that? We barely know each other and tomorrow we're going to New York together. And now you tell me that you love me? How can you possibly know that when you don't even know me?"

If I was confused before, I was utterly baffled now. Girls could be so strange.

"What are you trying to say Mallory?" I couldn't tell if it was anger or pain in her eyes.

She looked away from me, trying to hide the tears that were forming in her eyes. I went to touch her elbow, soothe her in any way I could, but she took a step away from me. Out of all the things that'd happened, that hurt me the most. She had refused my help when I was only trying to make her feel better – and she thinks I never give anything back!

"Mallory, please don't cry, it kills me to see you like this."

She wiped the tears away that had rolled down her cheeks and looked at me. "Ignore everything I just said, I'm sorry, I love you too." She smiled meekly at me.

"I don't want to ignore it, if there's something troubling you we can always talk about it."

She bit her lip and shook her head.

"Please Mallory, I want to talk about it." I stood up and gathered her in my arms. I felt her relax.

"I don't know, it's just..."

"What?" I coaxed.

"...Sexual frustration."

I couldn't contain the laughter that escaped from my lips.

"Oh my god Tyler don't laugh at me!" She scowled up at me.

"Sorry," I said and led her back over to the couch. "So, sexual frustration you say?"

"Yeah, your Rule is really fucking me up."

"Sorry," I apologised for a second time. "You know if you quit your job that Rule wouldn't apply anymore." She gave me the evils.

"I can't work at the moment because of my back anyway."

"There are no exceptions to The Rule," I said much to her disappointment.

She jumped up and started rifling through drawers.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Finishing the packing."

"I thought we agreed that we had finished."

"Well you can never be too prepared." She stuffed more clothes into a bag.

I actually got up to help her this time. I saw her smile when she saw me helping.

Eventually, we packed enough to satisfy Mallory. We decided to stay at hers for the night as to give Aiden some space back at my place.

We aimed to be in bed by 9, we knew we had an early start tomorrow morning. But we hadn't even eaten dinner yet and it was half 8.

"Is it alright if I take a shower?" I asked Mallory.

"Course it is," she replied.

I walked over to the bathroom, and closed the door behind me, shouting, "Don't go anywhere, stay right there!" over my shoulder. I'd already lost her once today and I didn't want a repeat of what had already happened.

I turned the shower on and got undressed. Just as I was about to step into the shower, I heard a knock at the door.

"Tyler! Tyler! Open the door quickly!" Mallory cried, sounding panic stricken. I dropped the towel and lurched over to the door and yanked it open.

"What is it?" I asked, but what I saw was very unexpected.

Mallory stood right in front of me, laughing. Laughing?

"Made you look." She said giggling.

"Huh?"

"I just wanted to see you naked," she said innocently.

"Oh you're good Mallory." I flashed a smile at her. She ran her hand down my chest.

"You should get naked more often Tyler," here hand kept going down.

"Mallory," I said warningly.

She looked up at me through her lashes with pleading eyes.

"No." I said sternly and removed her hand from my body.

She sighed melodramatically, "I guess I'll let you get back to your shower with all your naked glory."

"Thank you," I said and retreated back into the bathroom and stepped into the shower.

**MPOV**

I hadn't made much progress with the whole 'Rule' thing. It was still firmly in place and it seemed as though it would be for the foreseeable future.

I tried to turn the TV on whilst Tyler was in the shower. But the screen was black and all I could hear was a whirring noise. I'd add that to my long list of things I needed to fix.

I got changed into some lacy pyjamas, hoping to impress Tyler. I burrowed down deep under the duvet on the bed and tried to get comfortable. I heard the shower go off and waited in anticipation for Tyler to come out.

The bathroom door opened and he walked out with wet hair and droplets of water dripping onto his face.

Yum, wet Tyler was hot!

He was shirtless and wearing a pair of boxers. He spotted me in the bed and came to join me.

"Hello," he said as he snuggled up to me.

"Hello," I replied and wrapped my arms around him.

"We forgot to eat," he said into my neck.

"I'm not hungry anyway."

"Suit yourself."

We lay in silence for a few minutes. I didn't feel ready to go to sleep at all. I could think of many better things I could do with my nights.

"These are nice pyjamas," Tyler said, finally noticing them and running his hand down my leg.

"I hoped you'd like them," I lifted the duvet up so he could see my whole body. I saw his eyes widen slightly as he stared at me.

"I love them." He said and pulled the duvet back down. He kissed my forehead.

I closed my eyes and actually tried to get to sleep. I opened them again to look at Tyler. He was staring at me still.

"You're so beautiful," he said and pulled me closer. It was cheesy, but cute.

"Go to sleep," I said and closed my eyes once again.

_The next morning..._

I felt the light stream in through the window and hit my face. I rolled onto my side and tried to get back to sleep. This bed was really comfy, I felt so relaxed.

A voice made me jump, "Rise and shine!" Tyler yelled from the kitchen.

My eyes fluttered open and went straight to the clock. It was 6:30.

I could see Tyler serving up breakfast and hazily got out of bed. The cold air hit my bare skin. I forgot I was wearing these pyjamas. A shiver went down my spine, it was freezing!

I walked through to the kitchen and sat in a chair. Tyler was already dressed and wide awake. He sat opposite me. I started to take small sips from my drink.

"Eat up! We're leaving in half an hour."

I almost spit out my water, "Half an hour?" I began to wolf down my breakfast.

Tyler laughed at me. "Well, more like 28 minutes now," he teased.

I ate the last mouthful of toast and ran to the bathroom to get ready.

I finished in record time and burst out the door to head to the bedroom.

"Fuck, I think I packed all my clothes." I said panicking.

Tyler came through, "Surely not all of them."

"Well I don't have that many," I said and rushed over to my suit case to find something to wear.

I pulled out jeans and a shirt and threw them on. All the time Tyler just stood there watching me, calm as can be.

"How long?" I asked.

"20 minutes," he replied. It was longer than I had thought. I slowed down a little.

I grabbed the hairbrush out of my bag and yanked it through my knotted hair. I winced when I pulled too hard.

Tyler came over to me and took the brush in his own hand. He gently brushed through my hair, careful not to hurt me.

"Thanks," I said when he'd finished.

"Are you ready now?"

"One minute." I packed everything back into my suitcase and tried to zip it up, but the suitcase was so full I couldn't close it. I growled in frustration.

"Come here," Tyler said gently, and picked up the suitcase. He threw it onto the bed effortlessly.

"Sit on it," he told me, so I did.

He zipped the case up and checked his watch.

"10 minutes to spare."

I got down from the suitcase and dragged it to the door.

"Let's go now, it doesn't matter if we're early, besides, we need to pick Aiden up."

"Okay, are you sure you packed everything?" He asked me.

"Yes Tyler! I packed absolutely everything I'm sure." I opened the door and hauled my case out. Tyler followed and I locked the door behind us.

After struggling for a while, we finally managed to fit everything in the car. Tyler drove us back to his apartment. I stayed in the car whilst he got Aiden.

I checked the time; it was 3 minutes to 7.

Aiden got in the backseat. He had to put his bags on the seat next to him, there was no room anywhere else.

I noticed him looking at me weirdly, but didn't say anything. Tyler returned to his seat and we set off. The first few minutes of the journey were completely silent. An awkwardness hung in the air. I knew Aiden knew about my job, I could tell he thought lowly of me, but I tried to not let it bother me.

"You looking forward to going home Aiden?" Tyler finally broke the silence.

"Meh, I loved Vegas," he replied. "But yeah, I suppose I am."

Silence again.

I looked out the window. I could see Aiden's reflection in it, I watched him discreetly. He looked tired, or bored, I couldn't tell.

I exhaled slowly. My stomach rumbled. I blushed, had Aiden heard it? It sounded loud to me.

I looked over to Tyler, he was laughing to himself. I looked down, blushing violently again. Tyler's hand found mine and he held it reassuringly. He had a way of calming down, even with one touch.

I looked back at Aiden's reflection. I could see he was looking at mine and Tyler's intertwined hands. It must be weird if anything to him, I presumed he'd been friends with Tyler for a long time, way before I'd come into the picture. And now his best friend had suddenly acquired a girlfriend and the only thing he knew about her, was that she was a stripper.

I started seeing signs outside leading the way to the airport.

The journey continued, although it was still silent, the awkwardness had gone. I felt way more comfortable now I was connected to Tyler in some way. I smiled to myself, remembering that we were going to New York. _New York! _I'd never been there before, it was exciting, especially the prospect of staying with Tyler and meeting his sister who I'd only heard good things about.

Tyler squeezed my hand, "We're here."


	6. The Journey

**A:N Whooo another chapter for y'all! Feedback is muchly appreciated and once again thanks to all of those who are actually taking the time to read this :))**

**Disclaimer: I don't own these characters!**

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**Chapter 6**

**The Journey**

**MPOV**

The airport was busy. Busier than I had expected. Considering how early it was, I was surprised how crowded it was, obviously everyone had the same great idea of arriving early to avoid the rush. Everybody was bustling about, all of them seemed to be in a hurry. Numerous variations of suit cases were being wearily dragged or carried by their owners. I followed the boys as we strolled in, I was pretty clueless as to where to go so it was a good job I wasn't alone.

We headed towards the check–in where ladies clad with orange make up and squeaky voices were dealing with the many passengers. We joined the back of the queue.

Families stood around us ushering their children along so they didn't get lost in the mass of people. The kids had beaming smiles spread across their faces and excitement twinkling in their eyes. Watching happy families made me upset, I guess it was because I'd missed out on that during my childhood. The only time I could ever regain that experience was to have a family of my own. I looked at Tyler.

I was surprised to see that he was looking straight back at me. He smiled when I met his gaze and bent down to whisper in my ear, "You okay?"

His breath tickled my neck and as his hand brushed away my hair from my face, my skin tingled at his touch.

Oh I see what's happening here, trying to seduce me whilst in a public place – the one place we couldn't do anything without receiving a few odd looks at the least.

I stood on my tip toes so he could hear me, "Just slightly overwhelmed that's all."

He replied with another heart warming smile and slipped his hand into mine. We took a few steps forward when the queue finally moved along.

After roughly 10 minutes we were still only about half way through the queue. Because so many people had joined the queue rather than left, it looked as though we had made at least some progress.

Aiden said something to Tyler which I didn't hear, then walked out the queue leaving his suit case with us. I looked up at Tyler with a questioning look, and he mouthed back 'Toilet'.

I nodded understandingly and looked down the queue to see how far away we were from the check-in. I counted 6 groups of people ahead of us in the line. I sighed.

I was tired and surprisingly hungry. All I really wanted to do was board that plane right this instant, I didn't have the patience for these long waits. Besides, all the noise in here was beginning to give me a head ache.

Tyler squeezed my hand, "Cheer up!" he said enthusiastically. He must've noticed my mood. Of course he was really excited- he was going to see his sister, and, basically he was going home.

I tried to brighten up the atmosphere.

"Does Caroline know we're coming?" I asked, practically shouting so he could hear me above the hum of chatter.

"She knows _I _am coming, you'll be a surprise." He said smiling.

"Oh no what if she doesn't like me!" I exclaimed.

Tyler bent down to kiss my lips.

"She'll love you." He said just as Aiden returned.

"Woah!" He pretended to be grossed out and covered his eyes. "Have you finished?"

We laughed at him.

"For now." Tyler told him and we moved up the queue again. Only 4 people were in front of us now.

"So," Aiden addressed me, trying to make conversation, "I heard you went to the hospital the other day."

I felt myself going red, "Um, yeah." I replied.

"What did you do?" He asked me. I squeezed Tyler's hand for support, signalling for him to help.

"She injured her back, but it's much better now," Tyler said. Aiden evidently got the gist and let the subject drop.

At last we were one away from the check-in. I listened in as the people in front of us handed in their cases and answered questions.

Finally they were finished and it was our turn to be seen. Tyler did all of the talking, apart from when the lady directed her questions specifically at me.

"Did you pack your suit case yourself ma'am?"

"Yes."

"Does it contain any sharp objects such as scissors or knives?"

"No."

"Does it contain any of these prohibited items ma'am?" She held up a card which listed all the forbidden items. I looked at them.

"No." I said.

Then she took my suitcase and weighed it. I started to worry- I hadn't bothered to weigh it, what if it was over the limit?

The lady read the numbers on the scale and then looked back at me.

She smiled.

Phewf! Luckily it was just the right weight. I didn't want to spoil Tyler's day in any way at all. He was going to New York no matter what, nothing could stop him. Or stop me from stopping him rather.

Once the lady had gone through all of the ritual questions with each of us, we were eventually allowed to go.

There were shops and cafes. All of which we bypassed and headed straight through to board.

"Have you got the boarding passes?" I asked Tyler.

He delved into his pockets to get them.

"Please tell me you didn't forget them."

He continued searching through his pockets and eventually brought out his hands. Empty.

"Oh oh." He said.

I bit my lip and felt my eyes widen.

"Just kidding!" He laughed and showed me the boarding passes.

"Not funny." I said, squinting my eyes at him.

"You're reaction was priceless!"

"Shut up!" I stuck my tongue out at him. He carried on giggling and placed his hand on the small of my back to guide us to the gate. Aiden followed.

Our passes were checked and we were allowed through to board the plane. Tyler led us to our seats. They were 3 in a row.

"Do you have a preference?" Tyler asked me.

"Um, would it be alright if I had the window seat?" I asked.

Tyler nodded. I looked at Aiden for his approval.

"Go ahead." He said and let me pass by him to sit down.

Tyler went next and Aiden sat on the aisle seat. I made myself comfortable; we were in for about a 5 hour flight.

The passengers continued to load onto the plane. So many walked by us that I began to wonder if the plane could carry us all, but everyone seemed to find their assigned seat and settled down ready for the journey.

I looked out of the small window beside my seat to see the runway that stretched ahead of us. I felt Tyler's hand rest on my thigh and smiled to myself. He was so caring towards me, I really didn't deserve so much of his attention. This was his day, I would make it just as special for him as he was making me feel. Just little things like his hand on my leg made me feel loved, so I decided to think of all the things I could do for him.

First of all I lay my head on his shoulder and intertwined my fingers with his. I would have eternal gratitude towards this man, and since I couldn't show him how much I loved him through sex, I'd just have to find ways round The Rule.

"Thank you." I said.

He looked down at me, "For what?"

"For taking me to New York and for all the other ridiculously kind things you've done for me."

"You don't have to thank me, I want to do all these things for you."

Ugh Tyler just take the compliment. "Yeah, but... I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate it, that's all."

I could see him pondering what to say. I was expecting him to come out with something deep and intellectual, but he said, "You look tired."

"Thanks Tyler, a girl really wants to hear that from her boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?" He looked surprised, but I could tell he was secretly flattered, I was beginning to know and understand him more and more every minute.

I laughed at him.

"I'll try and get some sleep once we're up in the air."

"Good. I don't want my girlfriend to be deprived of sleep." He stroked my hair.

After what seemed like forever waiting, we finally took off. The air hostesses told us all the safety procedures and almost immediately after we'd taken off, we were offered lunch.

My experience with airplane food was not a pleasant thought to remember, so when the air hostess came down the aisle pushing her trolley, I politely declined any of the options, though my rumbling stomach strongly disagreed.

Aiden and Tyler both had something though. The options didn't differentiate too much, basically the only difference was the sandwich filling. They came set out on a little tray with a cup of water and a chocolate pudding of some kind. Unfortunately I had to stop leaning on Tyler so he could eat his food.

Tyler offered me some of his, complaining that I was going to starve. But I turned my nose up at it, even the smell alone was slightly nauseating.

I returned to looking out the window. The view was pretty amazing. We were flying high above the clouds and the buildings below us were tiny dots that were barely recognizable.

We flew through a cloud and the plane shook up and down as it got completely immersed. My stomach lurched violently and I thought I was going to be sick right then and there, but fortunately the feeling died down.

But then another whiff of Tyler's food set it off again and I jumped up out of my seat to run to the toilet.

I ran past all the startled passengers with my hand firmly over my mouth until I reached the toilet door. Thank god no one else was waiting in the queue, otherwise I would have totally humiliated myself by throwing up all over an absolute stranger. I'd had enough of queues for one day!

I opened the door and as it was sliding shut behind me, a hand caught it.

Tyler's hand.

Before I could even properly register his appearance I leant over the toilet seat and emptied out the contents of my stomach. Tyler held my hair out of the way for me, but every time I tried to gasp for air to thank him, I would throw up again.

I eventually seemed to stop throwing up and I stood up slightly out of breath. At least my stomach felt much better now.

I turned to Tyler.

"There were sick bags back at the seats, you know."

"Now you tell me!"

He looked back at me with the most gorgeous puppy dog eyes and pouty lips. I nearly whimpered.

"God you're so perfect." I said.

"Really? You think?"

I looked back at him in disbelief.

"Dude! Have you met yourself?"

He pretended to stroke his non-existent beard, "Hmmm, once or twice."

I laughed and he pulled me into his arms. I wanted to kiss him but I didn't think he would appreciate that bearing in mind what had just happened.

We went back to our seats and I gulped down the rest of Tyler's water, swirling it around in my mouth in attempt to get rid of the nasty taste.

Aiden didn't show much concern- possibly because he was ogling at the two women in the seats behind us. He was trying to catch their attention, but hadn't quite got past staring at them yet, they were probably starting to get freaked out but chose to ignore him instead.

Once I was absolutely certain that the horrible taste had gone, me and Tyler decided to watch a movie together. We scrolled through the choices on the screens in front of us and finally decided on 'Up in the Air'. Neither of us had seen it before so we went for it.

We had one set of headphones each. We wanted to watch the movie on our own separate screens so therefore we had to start the movie at exactly the same time.

"1..." My finger hovered over the play button ready to press.

"2, 3!"

We started the film.

For the rest of the duration of the flight we watched various different TV programmes. I did attempt to get to sleep, but the jolting of the plane at random intervals proved to make it impossible.

The seatbelt sign came back on and everyone was confined to their seats once again. Our descent started and I could see the runway in view.

The plane landed with a bump and then vibrated whilst we travelled along, our speed getting ever slower until we finally came to a halt.

We weren't allowed out of our seats until we heard the pilot's announcement. As soon as he said so, the plane was bustling with excited passengers, all scrambling to fetch their bags from the overhead storage and vacate the plane as soon as possible.

We joined in the chaos, and at long last, the air hostesses waved good bye to us and wished us a pleasant stay.


	7. Commence Operation Seduce Tyler

**A:N Sorry I didn't update on Friday! Thanks for the reviews :)**

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**MPOV**

We arrived at Tyler's late evening after we'd dropped Aiden back home.

"You have a place in New York as well?" I asked as he led me to the door.

"My Dad helps with the money side of stuff- he's loaded."

"And you're just allowed to use his money?" I asked, imagine the possibilities with a father like that!

"Giving me money is his way of telling me he loves me- I mean he doesn't even call me anymore... unless it's about the money."He unlocked the door.

"Don't you get on with him then?"

"No. Not at all. The way he treats my sister is unforgivable." He said firmly.

"What does he do to her?"

"It's what he _doesn't _do. She needs a father figure in her life and that's definitely not him."

He was getting exasperated as we walked into the apartment. It was similar to his Vegas apartment- just with less furniture because he didn't actually live here anymore. And minus the guitar which had been playing on my mind a lot recently.

"Did you bring your guitar with you? You said you'd play to me." I said hopefully.

"No." He snapped back, he was still frustrated. "Sorry." He added quickly after.

I went to sit on the couch and made myself comfortable. Tyler heaved the suitcases into the bedroom, I'd made special note of that room's whereabouts already.

He seemed to be really uptight at the moment- he needed to relax; this was meant to be a special break for him.

He took his jacket off when he came back for the rest of the bags, revealing his arms.

I swallowed audibly.

Now, if this fucking Rule of his wasn't still in place I would have had literally jumped at this chance and showed him a good time.

I thought about my options and settled on the best one...

Commence Operation Seduce Tyler.

"Tyler." I called him over. He popped his head round the door. "Come here." I said smiling and beckoning with my finger.

He walked over.

"Sit," I said, gesturing to the space next to me.

"I'm not a dog you know."But he sat willingly.

I giggled and snuggled up to him.

"I like your arms." I said, running my hands up and down them.

A smile crept onto his face.

"I like you stroking my arms." He replied. He was cooperating a lot more than I thought he would. I smiled to myself. So far so good.

"And your hair too. I love your hair." I said, running my hands through his gorgeous strands of slightly tousled hair.

He leant his head into my hand and closed his eyes. He looked so peaceful.

I changed into a kneeling position and gently kissed his lips. "I like your lips as well," I said, kissing them again.

I rested my forehead against his. "Anything else?" He breathed.

"Your eyes." I added and ran my fingertips over his eye lids. I kissed each one in turn and then retreated back to my side of the couch.

"No, stay here." He lifted me back onto his lap. Maybe I was finally breaking through to him.

I cuddled up to his chest.

"You like me being on top huh?" I asked him, almost giggling as I did.

He stroked my back but didn't answer. Too suggestive- at least now I knew the exact limits, I would work on that. Seducing Tyler might be more difficult than I'd suspected.

I'd once read somewhere that fear can strengthen the relationship between two people. Not the fear just by itself- but helping one another conquering their fear.

"Are you scared of anything Tyler?" I looked up at him.

"That's a weird question."

"Please answer it." I begged.

He drummed his fingers in my back and thought, "Well... no I don't think so."

"You're lying. Everyone is scared of something."

"Ok, well what are you scared of?" He turned the question on me.

I considered this, what was I scared of? I mean- there was the typical spiders, heights, darkness...

"I think... I think I'm scared of growing up and being stuck in like this, well, my old lifestyle, without being able to move on in life- to do the things I really want to do." I felt tears threatening to spill.

"I don't want to be a stripper, but I can't do anything else, I'm useless- "

Tyler put a finger to my mouth to stop me continuing, "You are not useless Mallory, don't ever think that you are." He looked deep into my eyes. "_Ever_. You understand?"

It would always puzzle me how and why he cared so much for me. I nodded meekly, with no intention to believe what he had said, and buried my face in his neck.

"You didn't answer the question," I reminded him, my voice muffled.

"Let me think..." he said softly. "I guess I'm scared to play the guitar for you."

What?

"No way! You're scared?" I sat up right.

"Yes! Why else would you think I would refuse to play for you?"

"I dunno- but you do seem willing to do literally anything for me, so what's so bad about playing the guitar?"

He sighed, "That's a different story for another day."

I did my best puppy dog eyes, "please tell me."

"No."

I frowned, "I'll get you playing for me, just you wait," I told him- this might work after all!

Right on cue, I spotted a guitar case behind the couch.

"Um, how many guitars do you have?"

"Just the one, back in Las Vegas." He said. Was he lying to me?

"What about the one down there then?" I said pointing to it.

He looked over his shoulder to see it.

"That's not mine."

"Whose is it?"

"My brother's."

"Does he live here with you?" I asked.

He paused, "Not anymore." He suddenly had a great interest in the floor and stared intently at it. He looked upset, had I done something wrong?

I decided to change the subject. "What time is it?" I asked as I settled back down into his lap.

"Just coming up to 8 'O' clock." He answered.

"Really? I'm tired already- we had an early start."

"We can go to bed now if you want."

"Would you mind?"

He smiled, "Of course not." He stood up, "The bedroom's just through here."

"I know," I giggled and followed him through.

"You do pay some attention then." He laughed and held my waist and rested his head on my shoulder. His body was pressed so close to mine, I swear I could feel...

"I'll be in the bathroom," he walked away.

Operation seduce Tyler was still very much in session. I hurriedly rummaged around in my suitcase looking for something to wear to prepare...

**TPOV**

I walked out of the bathroom to a very unexpected, but equally welcomed surprise.

Mallory was turned away from me, naked.

I watched her in amusement as she rustled around in her suitcase looking for pyjamas, swearing under her breath.

She pulled out a familiar looking lace pair. I approved.

She stepped into them and slipped the top over her head. She was just pulling it down when I walked over to her and made her jump.

"Fuck!" She screamed and looked at me startled.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you!" I said wrapping her into my arms. I could feel her heart beat pulsing fast. "Woah! I really didn't mean to give you that much of a fright!" I placed my hand over her heart as it continued to beat strongly.

I bent down to kiss her. Those skimpy little pyjamas were just begging to be taken off as I held her in my arms.

She pulled away, "Not helping with the whole heart beat thing," she said.

I laughed and felt her heart again. Sure enough it was still beating fast.

"Maybe you should do some exercise to increase you fitness." I meant it as a joke, at first. But then she informed me that she didn't do any form of work out.

"Ever?" I asked in disbelief.

"Nope." She replied, "But, I heard sex is an excellent calorie burner."

Trust Mallory to come out with something like that.

"You should be fit as a fiddle then working at that club." I said, she frowned at me.

"How about we go running together?" I suggested.

"Running?" She didn't look very impressed.

"Well- jogging."

She still didn't look persuaded.

"I'll compromise, if you come running with me, I will play the guitar for you."

Her eyes sparked up, "Deal!"

I smiled, this would be fun. "Great! We'll go tomorrow morning."

"Awesome!" She said, her enthusiasm growing more and more. "But you better keep your half of the deal."

"Will do, now bed time. " I caught her off guard and pushed her onto the bed.

I followed her onto the bed and wrapped her in my arms under the duvet.

I heard her sigh.

"I see your wearing my favourite pyjamas of yours again." I said pulling her closer.

"They're your favourite?"

"Yup."

She looked pleased with herself, and rightly so, she'd certainly made a good choice.

"It makes it easier to do this," I ran my hand up her leg creating visible goose bumps on her skin.

She started to wriggle, "That tickles!" She tried to squirm free from my grip.

Her laughing was infectious and set me off too. "What tickles?" I asked innocently, brushing my fingers along her thigh again.

"That!" She squeaked. She grabbed my hand and placed it on her waist.

"Stay." She whispered.

"Again with the dog commands!" But I kept my hand still.

She apologised and quietened down.

Just as I thought she'd fallen asleep, she turned around in my arms and suddenly pressed her lips to mine.

"Just forgot to say that I love you." She said, and turned back round.

.god. How perfect could this girl be?

I squeezed her tight, "I love you too."

And then she fell asleep in my arms.

_The next morning..._

I was awoken by Mallory's hands vigorously shaking me and her voice whining in my ear.

"Wake up Tyler!"

I groaned, "What time is it?" I asked, groggily opening my eyes.

"Half 7! Up up up!"

"You're eager." I said as I slowly started to make sense of the unfamiliar location.

"Well you know me! I _love _exercise!" She said sarcastically.

My eyes focused onto Mallory- she was already fully dressed and raring to go.

She was wearing grey sweatpants and a tight white V-neck top that I very much liked on her. Her hair was pulled back into a cute ponytail with a few strands dangling at the front.

"You look nice," I stared at her chest.

"Thank you Tyler. Now _get up!_" She yanked the duvet off and threw some clothes at me.

I groaned but got up like a good boy and got changed.

"Happy?" I asked once I was dressed.

"Very." She replied with a smile. She forced some cereal down me and then proceeded to finding her shoes.

She started to put on a pair of converse, "Um, Mallory, don't you have any proper running shoes?"

"No."

"You really should get some before we start running, your feet can become damaged if—"

"I'm sure these will do." She interrupted. "Let's go."

I followed her out, "Okay, well first of all we need to stretch."

I showed her some stretches. She did them all without complaining.

"Very good," I encouraged. "You ready to go?"

"Yes!" She was unbelievably excited.

"We'll start off at a slow pace, if you want to go slower, just tell me, and remember, breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth."

"Got it." She said and we started to jog.

We ran the first 5 minutes in silence, I wanted her to concentrate on her breathing.

"That's really good Mallory, exactly like that." I said.

Not many people were out as it was so early other than a few other runners. They all looked extremely professional and completely showed us up. But we kept going at a steady pace and Mallory wasn't even out of breath yet, I was pleasantly surprised.

We carried on jogging as it got busier. More people jostled about their business. I was worried Mallory was going to refuse to run with so many people potentially watching her- but she didn't say anything.

Our jog was going really well, until Mallory suddenly completely stopped in her tracks.

She was staring ahead, as if she'd seen a ghost.

"What is it Mallory?" I asked.

I followed her gaze to what she was looking at. The what turned out to be a _who._


	8. The What That Turned Out To Be A Who

**A:N I was meant to update last night but the internet crashed so i'm posting now :))**

**Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.**

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**Chapter 8**

**The What That Turned Out To Be A Who**

**TPOV **

At first I didn't see the relevance of the blonde girl who was standing a few yards in front of us or why Mallory was staring at her.

She seemed familiar; her piercing blue eyes sparked a long forgotten memory in the back of my mind.

A name came forth in my head, it matched with the face and it dawned on me why Mallory was staring at her.

_Ally. _

I looked back at Mallory who was still fixated with looking at her. Ally appeared to have not spotted us yet, either that or she simply didn't remember us which was certainly a possibility.

She was standing to the side, looking across and watching a small group of musicians busking.

Mallory's hand slipped into mine and dragged me forward. When we walked in front of Ally she squeezed my hand then kissed my cheek.

We passed Ally, "I don't think she was looking," I told Mallory.

She looked at me blankly, "I don't what you're talking about Tyler."

I snickered, "Yes you do, you're jealous even though the only thing I know about that girl is her name."

"I am not jealous," she stated and stopped walking, crossing her arms angrily across her chest.

I laughed at her, "Yes you are."

"No I'm not!" She squeaked, only to cause me to laugh again.

"Stop laughing!" She poked my chest and I caught her hand in mine. I held it tightly when she tried to break away.

"Let's finish our run." I said.

She looked at me sulkily, but then gave up and started to jog beside me again.

I took a quick glance over my shoulder, but Ally was no longer there.

We ran for about 20 minutes more before returning home.

"How was that?" I asked as I unlocked the door.

Mallory traipsed in out of breath "...Okay," was all she managed to say. She collapsed onto the couch.

"You better play the guitar for me after that!" she said, "Oh my god I'm dying."

I got her a drink of water and went to sit with her, "You're not dying," I gave her the drink. "You just forgot what I said about breathing, that's why you're so out of breath."

She waved her hand in the air signalling for me to shut up and gulped the water down.

"I'm going for a shower," I said and walked to the bathroom.

She nodded and then laid her head back.

I closed the door behind me and started to undress. I switched the shower to the hottest temperature it could go and then climbed in once the water had heated up.

The hot water felt particularly good as it splashed over my skin. I was tempted to just stand there until it ran cold, but I wanted to get back to Mallory.

I washed the last of the soap suds off me and then turned the shower off.

I searched for a towel only to find nothing.

I opened the bathroom door and peered round. I was just about to shout Mallory for a towel when I noticed what she was doing.

She was curled up on the couch holding a guitar in her lap. Not just any guitar, my brother's guitar. One of her hands was wrapped around the neck of the guitar and the other was plucking experimentally on the strings.

I gazed at her a while longer, dripping water on the floor whilst I stood in the doorway.

She was so fascinating to watch. Her eyebrows were furrowed in concentration as she tried to depict something resembling a tune on the strings.

I didn't want to interrupt, so I tried to creep out as silently as I could.

She seemed completely immersed in the sounds of the guitar as I managed to collect a towel from the cupboard without disturbing her and return to the bathroom.

I dried myself off and wrapped the towel around my waist. When I opened the door this time Mallory's head snapped up to look at me.

I didn't say anything and continued to my bedroom to put on some clean clothes. When I came back a few moments later, I found Mallory to still have the guitar on her lap, but she wasn't playing it anymore.

I sat down beside her. "Don't let me disturb you, carry on." I said, adjusting the position of the guitar in her lap so she could play it.

She looked down at it unsure, "I don't know how to play." She said. "You said you would play for me." She put the guitar in my arms.

There was no way to get out of this, she'd kept her half of the deal- it was only fair that I kept mine too.

I thought about what to play and ended up settling on the first thing that came to my mind.

I started strumming the chords.

_Nights in white satin, never reaching the end,_

_Letters I've written, never meaning to send._

_Beauty I'd always missed with these eyes before._

_Just what the truth is, I can't say anymore. _

As I advanced into the chorus I took one last glance at Mallory before letting the music totally absorb me.

_Cos I love you, yes I love you, oh how I love you._

_Gazing at people, some hand in hand,_

_Just what I'm going through they can't understand._

_Some try to tell me, thoughts they cannot defend,_

_Just what you want to be, you will be in the end._

_And I love you, yes I love you,_

_Oh how I love you, oh how I love you. _

I sang the last verse absolutely oblivious to my surroundings.

I'd forgotten how much I loved playing music , though I definitely hadn't forgotten _why_ I'd stopped playing.

I let the final chord hang and looked back up at Mallory.

Her eyes were wide and framed with tears that were threatening to fall.

"That was beautiful," she whispered.

"Thanks," I smiled and put the guitar carefully back in its case.

I opened my arms and she crawled into them and snuggled up to me.

"Thank _you_ for playing to me, it really was great."

"It was only fair that I kept my side of the deal when you kept yours first." Memories of the events from earlier on flooded back to me.

"Do you think she saw us?" Mallory asked. She mentioned no names, but I immediately knew who she was talking about.

"No," I said, "And even if she did so what?"

She sighed, "I guess I am the jealous type."

I stroked her hair, "I knew you were, it just means you love me."

"I really do," she said softly.

"I know," I replied.

"I'm going to take a shower now." She got up.

"Alrighty, I'll be here, waiting for you." She kissed me and then went to the bathroom.

Once the door had closed behind her I put the guitar back behind the couch. I took her glass which had had the water in it back to the kitchen and then sat back down.

Bored.

After a few more minutes of agonizing silence, I heard someone at the door. Probably just Aidan.

I went to answer it.

"Ally?" I jumped.

"Hi." She said. She stood in front of me, eyes sparkling and a smile playing on her lips.

"How the hell did you find me here?" I asked in surprise.

"Um, I may or may not have followed you back." She replied sheepishly.

"Why?" I asked slowly.

"I...I just felt a little guilty. I mean, I know nothing ever happened between us, but I saw the way your girlfriend looked at me and I wanted to let her know that I'm not interested in you. Like, at all. You're all hers." The words ran out of her mouth almost too fast for me to comprehend.

True; I wasn't interested in her either, but still, this was a weird situation I'd found myself in.

"She's just in the shower at the moment actually, but you can come in if you want," I offered.

She nodded politely and followed me through.

I watched as her eyes looked around, I felt like she was scrutinizing every inch of my apartment.

She spotted the guitar, "Is that a guitar? Do you play?" she asked.

"Um, yeah I do." I said embarrassed.

"You do? I play as well!" She glowed with excitement.

"That's great." I feigned my enthusiasm. My brother's guitar was special to me- I didn't get it out for just anyone.

We stood awkwardly. "Can I offer you a drink while we wait for Mallory to finish up?" I asked.

"I'm good thanks," she smiled.

"So..." I hurriedly thought of something to say, "What brings you to New York?"

"Oh I go to college here, I was just down in Vegas on break."

"That's cool." I said, "I think I'll just go see where Mallory's up to, please, take a seat," I gestured to the couch.

She sat down and I went to knock on the bathroom door. "Mallory? Can I come in?" I called.

I heard some shuffling and then the lock unlock.

I took this as the go ahead to open the door. I stepped in and closed it behind me.

Mallory sat bent over on the toilet seat wrapped up in a towel. Mascara was smudged all over her face.

"Are you okay?" I was immediately by her side.

"No." She mumbled.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know. I hurt. Bad."

I placed my hand on her back, "Where does it hurt?" I ran my hand up and down gently.

"My stomach." She keeled over even more, rubbing her stomach.

"Do you think you're going to be sick?"

"No- it's not that kind of pain."

"What kind of pain is it?" I lifted her hair up so I could see her face. Her eyes were squeezed shut as though she was in pure agony.

"I don't know." She said through gritted teeth.

"Okay, I know this is an awkward time but there's someone here to see you."

"Who?"

I paused, I knew she wouldn't like what I was about to say, "It's Ally."

"What the fuck does she want?" she asked still kneading her stomach.

"She just wants to explain something to you." I said quickly, "Let's get you dressed and then into bed, maybe you can sleep this thing off."

I helped her dress and then took her through to Ally who was still sat on the couch.

"Oh hi! Sorry, is this a bad time?" She asked when she saw Mallory bent over in pain.

I talked for Mallory, "She's feeling a bit ill at the moment, can we make this quick?"

"Sure! Um, so I just wanted to clear some things up - nothing has happened nor is happening between me and your boyfriend..." she rambled on.

"...So yeah, sorry for following you guys here, but I really didn't want to get in between you, you seem perfect for each other- I mean, I understand how weird this whole thing is coz I don't even know you but—"

"I understand," Mallory interrupted, desperate to get to bed.

"Thanks for clearing things up, I appreciate it." I told her.

She looked relieved, "Great!" she smiled, "I'll go now, nice meeting you."

I showed her to the door and then quickly ran back to Mallory who was staggering to the bed.

I held her up for support.

She flopped down onto the mattress and wrapped herself in the duvet. She groaned into the pillow and I felt helpless as all I could do was watch her endure the pain.

"Is there _anything_ I can do?" I asked eager to help in some way.

She patted the bed next to her indicating that I should lie next to her.

I did so willingly and held her in my arms. She curled up again, still clutching her stomach.

I started to hum Nights In White Satin in her ear. I saw a smile creep onto her face and smiled myself.

She turned around in my arms and buried her head in my chest.

I continued the song until the last chorus when I head Mallory's breathing grow steadier and heavier.

She was asleep.

I wasn't tired myself as it was only about midday, so I gently rocked her in my arms, not wanting to disturb her by getting up.

I heard her murmur something about pandas in her sleep and quietly laughed to myself.

I thought about what Ally had said earlier on, a few words stuck in my head and repeated over and over again in my mind;

_You seem perfect for each other._

_

* * *

_

**The song Tyler sang: /watch?v=dROSy-RElq0**


	9. Baby!

**A/N: I am soooooo sorry for not updating in aaaaaggessss! I've just been busy with...stuff. Anyway I'm back and I think I'll be updating more regularly now! **

**Remember to review!**

**No copyright infringement intended.**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

**Baby!**

**MPOV**

Sleep finally managed to win over the wrenching pain in my stomach and I gladly dozed off in Tyler's arms.

_-Mallory's dream-_

He looked at me as though I was his prey. And I liked it.

He pushed me against the wall and looked into my eyes in an almost animalistic manner.

His hands were immediately up my shirt and his lips kissing every inch of my exposed skin.

I tangled my hands deep in his hair and pulled him to me.

He growled into my neck as I unbuttoned his shirt and slipped it off his shoulders.

He returned the favour by pulling my shirt up over my head.

His lips were immediately smothering mine once again and the desire burning inside of me erupted into a need.

I needed him. I needed to be closer to him.

I pushed him back toward the bed - wanting to destroy whatever space was left between us.

Before I could give him one last push so he was lying on the bed, he flipped us round and he ended up on top of me- only breaking our contact for a split second.

Our passionate kiss continued furiously until I had to come up for air. I gulped down the much needed oxygen into my lungs and resisted the urge to roll my eyes back into my head as his lips left mine and descended down my body.

I felt him tugging at the zipper on my jeans and lifted my hips up to assist in the removal of the unwanted fabric that separated us.

I vaguely remember hearing the jeans thudding onto the floor but his hands had ventured to the newly exposed skin causing goose bumps.

I was fully aware that he was still entirely over dressed and pulled down his pants, intentionally removing his underwear at the same time.

I bucked my hips up to meet his, needing to feel him against me.

"Not yet," he whispered in a sultry voice against my ear. He held my hips firmly down.

I growled in frustration and unfastened my bra to move things along quicker.

He chuckled and slipped his fingers either side of my panties and slowly- agonizingly slowly – pulled them down my legs until I kicked them off.

He positioned himself above me and my heart, if possible, began to race even faster. I wriggled beneath him, waiting. The need for him was overwhelming, unbearable.

"Tyler!" I screamed.

_-End dream-_

I woke up with a start, only to be disappointed that my dream wasn't reality. My fantasies about Tyler and me were becoming ever more prominent. In my dreams I kept getting closer and closer to what I wanted, but never actually _did. _

My dreams were full of Tyler, or at least, things to do with Tyler- pandas, knights...it was all because of him.

I sighed and noticed the emptiness of the bed. I was alone. With blurry eyes I glanced over at the clock, it read 4:30. I'd been asleep about 4 hours, my stomach still ached, but not nearly as much as it had before. I felt much better, I smiled silently to myself.

"Why are we smiling?" I heard a familiar voice say.

"Is it a crime to smile?" I asked in return as Tyler sat next to me on the bed.

"Definitely not, I love your smile." He kissed my forehead, "I brought you a drink."

"Thanks," I said and took it from him. I drank it in record time, not realising how dry my throat was.

"Nice?"

"Very." I replied. I took in his glorious appearance, his dishevelled hair reminded me of my dream, then taunted me as I felt the pang of disappointment that it wasn't real.

"I had an awesome dream." I started.

"Let me guess, it was about pandas?" He chuckled, "I heard you mumbling about pandas in your sleep."

"No, well yes, but that wasn't the awesome bit." I tried to explain.

He laughed again, "What was the awesome bit then?"

"Well," I began and moved over to be closer to him, "It involved you."

He raised his eyebrows, "Oh really? How interesting, tell me more," he said sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes at him, "And it involved a lot less clothes," I said and tugged at his shirt.

He had a sparkle in his eye as I pulled his shirt off and straddled him.

"And I would v_ery_ much like my dream to become reality," I begged with my eyes.

He sighed, "Mallory, you know the rule."

"You know I don't care about the rule." I countered.

"You know I know that you actually do care otherwise you would've broken it already."

"Huh? You realise I don't understand anything you just said?"

He laughed and lifted me up off his lap.

I crawled back on. "_This_," I gestured to our position, "Isn't breaking the rule, relax."

"_This_," he gestured to his pants, "Makes it hard for me to relax."

I looked down to see a huge bulge in his pants. "Oh," I whispered.

"Oh indeed." He leant towards me, "Have you any idea how much I want you right now Mallory." He whispered in my ear.

I gulped.

"Well?" He asked again.

Me trying to seduce Tyler was one thing, but when it was the other way round, _fuck... _I'd never been this turned on.

"Answer me, Mallory." He bit down on my ear lobe, I yelped at the surprise.

"Um...what did you ask me?"

He made a fake tutting noise. "Forgetful aren't we?" His hands ran up my thighs.

"Well, you're not exactly helping."

"You're right. I'll just stop." His hands stilled. _Damn._

I whimpered when he removed them completely from my legs. "Please, don't stop." I begged.

He placed his hand on my stomach, "Are you feeling better?"

"Don't change the subject." I said firmly.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He replied innocently.

"Forgetful aren't we?" I used his own words against him.

He smirked, then his face grew more serious. "But seriously, are you feeling better?"

I was going to think of an incredibly snide and sarcastic comeback, but I could see the concern in his eyes and realised he really was worried about me.

"I'm feeling much better," I sighed and climbed off him.

His hands held my waist and pulled me back onto him. "I thought you didn't want to stop," he raised an eyebrow.

I stared at him, astounded. _He doesn't want to stop, do something Mallory! _

"Oh, um," I stuttered. _Smooth._ I wasn't prepared for this.

Before I could think, his lips were suddenly on mine, kissing me passionately. His hands tangled in my hair and he gently lowered me to the bed.

He left a trail of kisses up my neck to my ear, "You are irresistible." He whispered.

I couldn't form a coherent sentence.

His hands travelled south and landed firmly on my hips and his body hovered above me.

_Déjà vu. _

He continued to nip at my neck. His hands crept up to the hem of my jeans and tickled the skin there.

"Tyler, what about the rule?" I asked breathlessly.

"We're not breaking it." He stated simply, and slipped his hands into my jeans.

"Uuuungh, Tyler, please..."

"Please what baby?"

Oh my god he called me baby.

"Please... touch—"

And then a phone rang.

_A phone rang. _

"Fuck, that's mine, sorry baby," Again with the baby!

He climbed off me and went searching for the source of the stupid, interruptive ringing, effectively giving me sufficient time to reflect on what just happed- or what didn't happen rather.

I quickly decided that Tyler calling me 'baby' was definitely one of my favourite words that fell from his lips, and yes, I had a list. The words 'fuck', and of course my own name were also in the top five.

I waited impatiently for Tyler to return. I heard some shuffling and muffled chatter as he made conversation to whoever it was that was keeping him from me.

Minutes passed and I considered calling him, but he re-entered the room with a grin on his face.

"That was my mum, she wants to meet you." He said excitedly.

Oh god, I guess this is the 'meet the parents' stage. Awkward.

He obviously sensed my uncertainty and said, "She's really nice, nothing like my father, she wants to make your first visit to New York memorable. Oh, and Caroline is apparently desperate to meet you!"

"So you told them about me?"

"Well I was planning on making it a surprise, but mothers seem to have this 6th sense about these things."

I laughed at this, and was pleased his family was going to meet me properly, not accidentally in the middle of a strip club.

"I don't want them to know." I blurted out, "You know, about my job." I said.

He sat behind me, "I don't want to lie to them."

"You don't have to lie as such; just don't tell the whole truth."

He chuckled in my ear, "Okay, but you're the one answering if any difficult questions come up about it, baby."

_Baby. _I whimpered, the things he could do to me with just one word!

"Did you just whimper?" He whispered in my ear.

His scent filled my senses and I could only nod in response to his question.

"Why?" He asked confidently. I paused.

"Tell me, baby." He practically purred in my ear.

I whimpered again. "Um...you said...you called me...baby."

"Do you like it when I call you baby?"

I nodded my head frantically.

He kissed the top of my hair and wrapped his arms around my waist. He rested his head on my shoulder, "Good to know." He said quietly, as if he was deep in thought.

"Let's go out for dinner tonight, I mean- if your stomach is up to it."

"I think I'll be fine," I said softly, still in a daze from the baby conversation.

Tyler's arms squeezed me in a hug then released me as he got off the bed.

"As much as I love you in those pyjamas, I think you should get changed." He told me.

I couldn't even remember putting pyjamas on, but when looked down I saw I was wearing the lacy ones.

Tyler's favourite.

I looked back up at him to find him smirking back. "I wasn't wearing these when I got into bed," I said.

"Well, you know how much I like them." He said simply with a shrug of his shoulders.

He reached out his hand to me, I took it and he pulled me off the bed.

"I don't know what to wear." I mumbled as I rustled through my suitcase. A pile of now rumpled clothing was forming beside me.

Tyler gathered it up and plonked it down on the bed, then fetched some clothes hangers and starting hanging them up in his wardrobe.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"You don't want your clothes to get all creased in your suitcase do you?" He continued hanging them up.

I muttered a 'no', embarrassed that I called him out when he was only trying to help, and went back to searching through my case.

A piece of clothing landed on my head. "Tyler!" I yelped and yanked it off my head. I turned to him. He was laughing.

"It's not nice to throw clothes at you girlfriend's head you know?"

"Sorry baby," He said between chuckles.

I immediately forgave him and persisted with the task at hand. That one word could make me melt into a pile of goo right before his feet.

I could still hear Tyler sniggering behind me.

Rolling my eyes, I stood up and faced him. "Stop laughing," I said firmly, pouting slightly.

He held his hands up in surrender and his managed to make his giggling subside.

I sighed, "I don't have anything to wear." I whined.

"Sure you do, there's plenty of choice here!" He gestured to the floor and wardrobe.

"Yes but I want to actually look decent for once!" I said, exasperated.

I looked down at my feet, instantly regretting what I'd said.

I saw Tyler's feet taking the necessary steps towards me to close the distance between us.

"Mallory, look at me." He spoke softly, barely audible.

I forced my eyes to look up at him. His eyes were so full of love that it made me want to cry, or jump him right there. One or the other.

I felt wetness on my cheeks and realised I was crying. Tyler's face twisted into one of concern and he brushed away my tears with his thumb.

"Why are you crying?" He asked, holding his gaze with mine.

I closed my eyes and inhaled a shaky breath, "Because you're so nice to me, because you take such good care of me, because you say that you love me and..." A new wave of tears surged down my face.

"Because I don't deserve you."

It was silent for what seemed like forever.

I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes in fear of the reaction Tyler would be having.

I could hear my unsteady breath and feel my tears running farther down my face to my neck. I wanted to wipe them away but my arms weren't co operating.

The gentle touch of Tyler's fingers on my neck startled me and my eyes flew open at last.

He was closer to me than before, he was looking at my neck as he brushed the tears away that had collected there.

He opened his mouth to say something, then seemed to reconsider it and closed it again.

I was still stood rigid, although more relaxed because of Tyler's touch on my neck.

In my mind I willed him to say something, anything that could break this agonizing silence which was stretched between us.

I took to staring at his lips, and almost cried out in relief when they started moving, forming words.

"Sometimes I think that too, you know," he started, bringing his eyes away from my neck to look into mine, "That I'm not worthy of such an amazing girlfriend."

"Tyler, that's ridiculous," my voice came out as a whisper, and I wondered if he'd even heard what I'd said.

"Then you would understand how torn I feel when you think that you don't deserve me."

I nodded my head in understanding and gave him a watery smile.

His hand that was rested on my shoulder moved to the back of my neck and he brought his head down to mine.

His lips tenderly brushed against mine in a lingering kiss which just made me want even more.

"Tyler," I mewled, "You can't just do shit like that if you're never going to finish off what you started," I broke away from him , slightly breathless, "You are _far _too good at kissing mister."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment," He smirked, "And I _always _finish what I started," he stated and pulled me toward the bed.


	10. Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

_Previously:_

_"I'm going to take that as a compliment," He smirked, "And I _always _finish what I started," he stated and pulled me toward the bed._

**TPOV**

It was amusing to see Mallory's eyes widen and mouth drop open as I took her hand and led her toward the bed.

This was too easy.

She sat down on the edge of the bed. Her tongue peeked out and licked her bottom lip which she then bit down on with her teeth.

It was insanely adorable and sexy at the same time, I even considered changing my plans, but I willed my eyes to look away.

I went to my wardrobe and pulled out one of Mallory's dresses, "I think you should wear this." I said turning back round to her.

I held the little black dress up for her to see. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion and I had to bite my tongue to hold back my laugh.

"I thought we were gonna...um...you know..." Mallory said shyly, her fingers fumbling with the bed sheets at the side of her.

I must have been making her nervous- Mallory was never one to shy away from sex.

"I'm sorry, what was that? What did you think we were going to do?" I asked with an obvious smirk on my face.

She kept her gaze fixed on her feet and mumbled, "Finish what you started."

"Baby, you really need to speak up." It was mean, but I knew I could use that word to my advantage, every time I called her _baby _she seemed to turn into some love struck zombie.

A gorgeous one though.

"Sex." She blurted out.

I had to try very hard to refrain myself from laughing this time, instead I frowned sympathetically at her.

"I'm sorry if I gave you the impression that we were going to have sex Mallory, but you see, I was actually talking about choosing you an outfit for dinner."

She seemed to regain her control and I could see the realization hit her. She pouted.

"Tyler! You are evil."

"An evil genius!" I corrected and threw the dress to her.

She sulked off to the bathroom with it and locked the door behind her.

I quickly got changed and managed to drag a comb through my hair before walking over to the bathroom door.

I knocked, "Mallory, are you mad at me?"

"Yes!" Was her abrupt reply.

I put my ear to the door and listened. Through the wood I could hear ragged breathing and moaning.

What was she doing in there? Was this her payback?

"Have you any idea how horny I was back there Tyler! Now you've left me to take care of myself."

_Oh my god. _My girlfriend was touching herself just a mere 3 feet away from me. My pants tightened considerably.

I rattled the door handle, only to find out it was locked. I suddenly acquired a new found hatred for doors.

"Mmmm...Tyler!" Her voice drifted out to me. _Oh god._ My name. She said my name!

"Mallory, please baby, open the door!" I whimpered desperately.

Instead of a reply, she cried out and I could only assume that she'd reached her climax. A few seconds later I heard the shower turn on.

"Mallory! Open this door!" I yelled over the sound of running water.

When, once again, I received no answer, I leant my back against the door and took deep breaths to try and calm myself.

I slumped down onto the floor, still leaning against the door, and ran my hands through my hair. My mom had always said it was a sign of defeat when I did that. She was so right.

I heard the click of the lock and I fell back onto the floor as the bathroom door was opened. I looked up to see Mallory's face smirking down at me. Oh, and she was naked.

I groaned loudly. Her legs were parted, one either side of my head and her hands were on her hips.

I groaned again.

"Enjoying the view?" She asked.

"That would be the understatement of the century."

My eyes scanned over her body again. I'd never seen her completely naked before. I knew her skin was pale, but the creamy expanse of skin before me was so beautiful I had to hold back yet another groan. I wanted to lick her.

Her breasts were absolutely glorious, just begging to be touched. And her legs were long, slender and led to the most perfect ass I'd ever had the pleasure to lay my eyes on.

"Are you gonna lay there and gawk or come and shower with me?" She interrupted my lust filled haze.

I managed to drag my eyes away from her body and met her eyes. Her eyebrows were raised and her lips were pursed, awaiting my reply.

"Shower." I mumbled, and scrambled up so I was standing.

I shed my clothes under her watchful eye and finally we were both naked. I had to keep reminding myself why I made The Rule in the first place, but we were both naked, and close, and turned on and..._oh god_...her beautiful body was right there, right there to be touched, made love to.

There's the L word again. It popped up regularly around Mallory.

I watched as her eyes raked over my body, lingering on my erection. I watched her intently, noticing how her eyes seemed darker and hooded.

"Enjoying the view?" I asked sarcastically, mimicking her tone from earlier.

She bit down on her lip and nodded, not even shifting her gaze. My ego swelled.

After staring at each other for a few moments more, we stepped into the shower, where we stared at each other again. And then some more.

I was itching to touch her, but I knew I wouldn't be able to stop if I did.

She stood in front of me, just a few inches away and took my hand in hers and led it to her hip. She then repeated the action with my other hand.

She stood up on her tiptoes and whispered in my ear, "You can touch me, you know? I don't bite."

I exhaled a shaky breath, overwhelmed by her proximity. Her skin was wet beneath my hands, I could so very easily slip them to where I wanted to be the most. She hadn't moved her head from my ear, I could feel her hot breath against my neck coming out in pants.

She wanted this just as much as I did.

And then it hit me, of course she wanted this! She'd practically begged for it. _I_ was the one stopping anything from happening. _Me. _

But she was still working at the club, other men put their hands on her, and she, well...she put her hands on other men. This is why I made The Rule. I'm a selfish, jealous prick. But I could still see the sense in what I was doing. Depriving her what she wanted most meant she might finally see sense and quit that awful job.

Mallory sighed against my neck, snapping me out of my confusing thoughts, and started to move away and I felt the need to explain myself.

"I know, I'm just worried I won't be able to stop." I said in answer to her question.

She was now in front of me again, staring at me with her gorgeous green eyes. She blinked once, twice, then reached around me to pick up the shampoo. She squeezed some into her hand and then set it back down again. Whilst looking directly into my eyes, she rubbed her palms together, creating frothy foam.

"Why would you have to stop?" She asked, tilting her head to one side slightly, acting dumb. She was demanding the reasons she already knew.

"You know why."

She raised her hands to her hair and started rubbing in the shampoo. _I wanted to do that for her._

"I don't want to have to share you Mallory." I explained, trying to tear my eyes away from her breasts which were now extremely exposed with her hands in her hair.

"Move over," she said, a coldness now clear in her voice.

I moved so she could stand in the spray of water and rinse her hair. I stood silently, trying to give her some space by standing at the edge of the shower, waiting for her to say something.

I was considering getting out because I was getting cold when she started talking, "I'm gonna quit the club."

"What?" Surely I'd misheard her. I studied her face, was she joking? Lying?

"I said, I'm going to quit." No she meant it, she was serious!

A huge grin spread across my face. But she remained expressionless.

"I'll call them once we're done in here."

"That's so great! Thank you Mallory." I finally allowed myself to touch her and pulled her into my arms to hug her, I buried my face in the side of her neck and revelled in the fact that I could feel every inch of her body against my own skin.

Her arms wrapped around me and her face rested on my chest. She closed her eyes. As I was looking down at her, she sighed and a small smile played on her lips. Over the last half hour or so she'd had so many mood swings- from sad to seductive, confused to content. But she seemed happy now, and there was a glimmer of a thought in my head that perhaps_ I'd _made her happy. When she was happy, so was I, and I too smiled.

I trailed my hands up and down her sides and then rested them on her stomach where I tickled her lightly.

She wriggled in my arms and giggled. I peppered her neck with kisses, "I love it when you giggle like that, so fucking adorable." I murmured against her neck.

She sighed again into my chest and then proceeded to kiss it. The trail of kisses continued up my chest to my shoulder where she bit down gently.

"Hey! I thought you said you didn't bite!" I laughed. She looked up at me with innocent eyes.

"Things change." She smiled sweetly and kissed me once more before stepping out the shower.

I immediately missed the contact, but the water was running cold so I followed her out.

Things certainly do change. And now she'd answered my silent wishes and was going to quit the club, things were definitely going to change, in an 'I get to fuck my girlfriend at long last' kind of way.

We wrapped ourselves up in huge fluffy towels, took one look at each other, and then the towels were discarded on the floor as Mallory launched herself into my arms.

She immediately attacked my lips with a searing kiss which I deepened instantly. Her legs were wrapped around me, pulling me as close as humanly possible to her. She hummed against my lips and tugged at my hair. I had one hand planted firmly on her ass and the other knotting itself amongst her hair.

And then, making me impossibly harder, she circled her hips against me. Again and again, until she was effectively grinding into me.

I gasped, partially because it'd caught me off guard, but mostly because in all my wildest dreams, I could never have imagined how amazing she'd feel completely naked and rubbing up against me.

"_Fuck_ baby," I groaned against her neck.

She moaned in reply, "...So good..._so_ fucking good..." she whispered breathlessly.

If this wasn't complete and utter perfection, I don't know what was. But there was still something left to do...

"Baby, the club." I forced the words out, wanting nothing more than to be inside of her.

"Noooo," she mewled, "Keep going...I'm so close, Tyler please!"

I just didn't have it in me to refuse her anymore, so I trailed my hand that was in her hair down her back and then around her front until my fingers were applying just a little pressure to her swollen clit.

She cried out in pleasure. A noise I would happily hear over and over again. In fact, I would gladly record it and put it on my iPod or use it as my ringtone. All I knew was that I wanted to hear it again.

I pressed down harder and moved my fingers in tiny circles.

"Oh God...oh _fuck..._don't stop..."

I didn't intend to. Her hands gripped my shoulders so tightly her nails were digging in, but it just encouraged me further.

"Come for me, baby." I whispered in her ear.

"_Fuck Tyler!"_ she screamed as her orgasm washed over her.

**MPOV**

Never in my life, in my whole entire existence, had I _ever_ experienced such an intense orgasm.

It was phenomenal, _he _was phenomenal.

And hard, I thought as he set me on the ground, his erection bigger than ever. I immediately sank to my knees in front of him.

"Mallory, you really don't have to."

But I was barely listening to him. I was staring at his glorious cock and salivating at the prospect of taking him in my mouth. Why hadn't we done this before? This doesn't go against The Rule!

"Baby, please don't lick your lips like that, you're killing me here!"

I ignored his comment and brought my lips to the head of his cock, but Tyler's hand on my head stopped me.

"Ring the club, then we'll continue." He said, and took a step away from me.

"But it's only fair that I return the favour," I countered looking up at him.

He shook his head, "Call them first, then we can carry on."

I reluctantly stood up and walked to the bedroom. All I needed to do was call the club and say those two little words: I quit.

I looked on the bedside table for my phone, it wasn't there. _Please _don't say I've lost it now! The one time I really need it!

I searched through my suitcase, in all pockets, under the bed, in drawers, but it was nowhere to be found.

_Ugh! This cannot be happening now!_

"Um, Tyler, I think I've lost my phone."

He walked out of the bathroom with a towel hanging low on his hips. "When did you last see it?"

I tried to remember the last time I used it, "I only remember _not _having it when I was at the hospital."

"I dropped it off at your apartment for you, didn't you pick it up."

I huffed in frustration, "Obviously not." I lay on the bed and stretched.

"Mallory, I'm trying to gain some self control here," Tyler warned.

_Oh yeah, _I was still naked. I smirked and stretched out again, opening my legs a little and arching my back.

I heard that tell-tale growl of Tyler's and smiled. I loved making him do that. I looked up at him. His eyes were closed and he was taking deep breaths.

"Do you have their number written down anywhere?" He asked in a calmer voice.

"No, why does it even matter, you know I'll quit as soon as I get my phone back! Don't you trust me?" I was frustrated, mostly because I was extremely aroused and couldn't do anything about it.

"It's not you I don't trust, it's them. What if they make you work again?"

I rolled my eyes, "They can't do that if I quit."

"But you can't quit until you've got your phone back so- _ugh! _Please put some clothes on." Knowing that this was frustrating him as well made me feel slightly better.

As I reluctantly put my dress on, I slowly started to accept that The Rule was still in place. There would be no fucking tonight.


	11. Revelation

**Finally! A new chapter- sorry for the long wait. Enjoy :) Or not. I can't make you ;)**

* * *

4 days since we'd arrived in New York.

3 and a half days since I decided I would quit the club. I knew it was coming, but when Ally turned up, I felt an overwhelming urge to protect what's mine. I don't want to share him with anyone, and I could finally see how things would look from Tyler's perspective- he didn't want me touching other men and I most certainly didn't want other girls pining after him.

3 days since I'd last seen Tyler naked. And yes, he had been taking special precautions to ensure that he remains hidden from my view when sans clothes.

2 and a half days since I realised I am one horny motherfucker. Perhaps that was why I worked at the club so long, although the money was definitely a big motivation as well.

2 days since I realised that I could drive Tyler crazy just by licking my lips. And when I add my fluttering eyelashes into the mix… well let's just say a man can only have so much resistance. He'll crack soon. And if he doesn't, I most certainly will.

Yesterday was spent sightseeing. But now we're getting ready to go out to, _gulp, _Tyler's mother's house.

He assures me that I've nothing to worry about, that she'll love me and so will his sister.

The problem is that I've never been invited to meet my boyfriend's parent. Hell, I've never even had a boyfriend as such. Well, at least not one that has meant as much to me as Tyler does.

There's so much about me she could disapprove of- my job, although I'm not planning on her finding out- if only I could find my phone then I would have nothing to worry about.

Apart from the fact that I would be unemployed and out of education. Oh god, all these bad scenarios keep popping up in my mind. I just can't seem to win.

"She'll _love _you, Mallory, stop worrying." Tyler's tells me as I check myself in the mirror for the billionth time, running through my mental checklist once again.

Hair- down, slightly wavy. Dress- long enough not to scream out _I'm a stripper! _but short enough to show that I can have a little fun. Shoes – flats, knowing me I would trip up and end up sprawled on the floor if I wore heels. Make –up – minimal, but enough to show that I've made an effort.

I catch Tyler's eye in the reflection and force a smile, hoping it will be enough to prove that I'm not a complete wimp. He's wearing faded jeans with a black shirt- simple, but enough to make me want to rip the clothes off his body.

"Although your smile would usually be enough to make you seem at ease," Tyler starts knowingly, his eyes twinkling, "the fact that you haven't exhaled in over a minute gives the game away."

I'm momentarily confused, but then I feel the burning in my lungs and gulp in the air when I realise I've been holding my breath.

"Now, for the last time, you're going to be fine," he takes my hand in his and gently pulls me away from the mirror.

I groan in protest. As much as I want to meet Tyler's family and see the house he grew up in, I just can't help thinking something terrible is going to happen. What if his mother forbids us to continue to see each other? Or his sister decides that she hates me?

"You're doing it again," Tyler states, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Doing what?" I ask nonchalantly, concentrating intently on walking to the car. _Left foot. Right foot._ I can do this, everything will be okay I try to persuade myself.

"Over analysing everything," he tells me as he opens the passenger door for me. I climb in and wait until he's settled in his seat.

"Sorry," I mumble, "I'm just nervous I guess."

"We've been over this, you have absolutely no need to be worried." He says, reaching over and taking my hand in his, "It should be me who's worrying- who knows what tales of my childhood she'll spurt out!" He chuckles and gives my hand one last comforting squeeze before releasing it and starting up the engine.

I try to concentrate on what's happening through the window- but it proves to hold no interest for me whatsoever and my mind keeps wandering back to all the terrible things that could potentially happen this evening.

After what seems like only a few seconds have passed, we're already parking in front of the house. I'd been too busy worrying about what could happen to build up any expectations of the house, but from the outside it seemed very homely and warm - there was even a doormat outside the front door reading, "Home sweet home."

Tyler opens the car door for me and I climb out, adjust my dress and ruffle my hair a little.

"Ready?" He holds out his hand which I willingly take, touching him makes me feel safer and more confident.

"As I'll ever be." I smile and we walk to the front door, butterflies seem to be having a party in my stomach and I have to restrain myself from running back to the car and hiding away curled up in a ball.

Before Tyler has even rung the bell the door flies open and then, before I can even comprehend what's happening, we're standing face to face with his mother.

She has a friendly face, the type with wrinkles from smiling so much. Her hair is down and falls in slight waves and her eyes twinkle just like Tyler's do.

"Sweetie! How are you, oh I've missed you so much!" She squeals out and attacks Tyler in a huge hug, forcing him to let go of my hand. But I don't mind, they both look so happy to see each other, I don't even try to stop the enormous grin spread across my face.

"Woah, hi Mom! I'm great, how're you doing? Where's Caroline?" Tyler pulls back from the hug to look into the house, presumably for his sister, but she's not there.

"She'll be down in a minute honey, she's just making sure she looks extra nice for our visitor this evening," she turns round and looks pointedly at me, "Caroline's so excited to meet you Mallory, she's curled her hair and worn her prettiest dress!" She continues to babble excitedly, and I sneak a glance at Tyler who runs his hand through his hair and smiles sheepishly at me.

I switch my focus back to his mom, making sure I'm still smiling sweetly – first impressions are important.

"…she even drew a picture for you! Did Tyler tell you she draws, because she's such a wonderful artist-"

"Mom! You're scaring her!" Tyler interrupts. He walks to my side, "Mallory, I'd like you to meet my Mom, Diane, Mom, this is Mallory."

He looks expectantly at me and I realise now I really have to start talking, "It's great to meet you," I say politely and before I can say anything else she hugs me. Well that was unexpected. I'm quickly learning that she's the hugging type.

Her arms are still wrapped around me when she starts talking, "It's so lovely to finally meet the girl who's made my boy so happy!"

I feel myself blush and avoid looking at Tyler. Diane pulls away, "Oh I'm being so rude! Please, come inside you two!"

We follow her inside the house. Tyler takes my hand once again and we're lead through to the dining room.

"Please take a seat, dinner's almost ready." She says and disappears into the kitchen leaving us alone.

We sit down next to each other on the far side if the table in silence. I know Tyler is looking at me, trying to figure out how I'm feeling, but the truth is, even I don't know what to make of everything yet.

I know Tyler would only ever want me to be honest with him, but I feel a lot of pressure to make sure this night goes perfectly and gain the go ahead from his mom. Needless to say, it means a lot to the both of us.

"Mallory, what-"

"Tyler!" A high pitched voice interrupts Tyler, shortly followed by a little girl bounding into the room.

"Caroline!" Tyler jumps up to see her. He picks her up and spins her around, it may just be the cutest thing I've ever seen.

Their faces look so happy as they hug each other and I find myself thinking about having kids with Tyler. Stupid, I know, as that would be a huge step and a very long way off. But the way the young girl's face lit up when he spun her around was almost too much to handle. Images of Tyler holding _our _baby warmed my heart. Would we ever get to that stage?

"Earth to Mallory…" Tyler's hand was waving in front of my face, snapping me back to reality.

"Caroline, say hello to Mallory," he said putting Caroline back on the ground.

"Hi Mallory!" She said to me sweetly.

"Hey, I love your dress," I replied, knowing she'd put a lot of effort into her outfit.

Caroline blushed and Tyler beamed at me.

"Thanks, I like yours too," she said, I was surprised at how polite she was for such a young girl.

There was an awkward silence. My experience with children was zilch so I had no idea what to say. Then, for the second time that night my thoughts wandered to those of children with Tyler. What if I was a terrible mom? I hadn't really had a good mother figure in my life to look up to. Plus the fact I'd been a stripper since the age of sixteen meant I had never even contemplated the idea of having kids. The only interaction I'd had with a baby was when a girl at work got pregnant and she'd brought the baby into the club to meet us all. She never came back after maternity leave because she was too busy looking after the baby by herself as the father had run off once he'd heard the news. The though of raising a kid single-handedly had terrified me. What if Tyler left me? How would I cope?

I shook my head clear of the unwelcome thoughts and looked at Tyler expectantly, willing him to say something.

"Caroline, why don't you go see if Mom needs any help in the kitchen?"

"Um…okay," she looked a bit confused but went to the kitchen anyway.

Once she was out of ear shot I turned to Tyler, "She's really nice, they both are," I said smiling, still trying to not think about getting pregnant and Tyler leaving me.

He looked at me sceptically, probably sensing that something was wrong.

He sat back down beside me and held my hand under the table. "Will you tell me what's wrong?" He asked with puppy dog eyes which I couldn't refuse.

"Nothing's wrong, why would you think anything's wrong? I'm fine, really." I babbled trying to avoid eye contact with him. I swear he could see straight through me when he looked into my eyes.

He opened his mouth to say something, but Diane and Caroline came in with plates of delicious looking food, effectively ending our conversation.

I risked a sideways glance at Tyler. He looked slightly frustrated. I wanted to make him happy again, to see him smile as big as when he hugged Caroline, not make him angry.

I mentally kicked myself and dug into the food that we'd been served, knowing I needed to talk to him in private later.

"This is really good." I said after swallowing a mouthful of potato.

"Thank you honey," Diane looked proud of herself, "So, tell us about yourself, where do you work?"

"NO." Tyler shouted, making us all jump. "I, I mean, that's a bit personal don't you think mom?" He snapped at her.

I felt guilty that Tyler had to cover it up like that. But I also felt slightly offended that he'd been so quick to interrupt, was he really that ashamed of me? He knew I was going to quit as soon as I found my phone, couldn't we just say that I was between jobs?

Diane looked shocked at Tyler's outburst, "Calm down Tyler, you know better than to raise your voice at me," she told him sternly.

I stayed quiet and continued to eat my food. Then she addressed me again, "Where are you from Mallory? That is, if I have the permission of my son to ask you that." She said sarcastically.

"Well I grew up in Florida, then New Orleans with my foster parents and then moved to Vegas when I was 17."

I wasn't technically fostered, but Doug and Lois were the closest things to parents I had. I hadn't told Tyler about them. I hadn't needed to, it'd never come up in conversation. But now I felt as though maybe I should have told him before, I knew he'd have a lot of questions for me as soon as we got back.

Diane nodded politely, probably not wanting to ask about my real parents in case it was a sensitive subject for me. But it wasn't. It's fairly simple- I was an accident, a mistake. I was born in Florida where I grew up having to look after myself. I never met my father and my mother tried to convince herself that I wasn't hers by repeatedly ignoring me and getting drunk every day. When I was old enough to realise she was an alcoholic, I knew I had to leave. I soon realised that fending for myself wasn't possible without money. So, I faked my age and managed to get work in clubs around New Orleans which was where I'd ended up after hitching lifts until I was sure that my mum could never find me again. I met Doug and Lois when I was 16 and they took me under their wing. But I was scarred from years of neglect and couldn't believe that they wanted to actually help me. Then, thinking they were playing some sick joke by letting me live with them, I ran away to Las Vegas. Only recently have I realised that they were trying to be nice, for reasons I still don't know. I still call them once in a while. They say they like to hear my voice because I remind them of someone. I don't know what they're talking about.

Conversation at the dinner table was pretty much dead. I could tell Tyler was still pissed off because he was noisily drumming his fingers against the wood of the table.

Diane cleared the empty plates away and Caroline followed her into the kitchen, probably wanting to escape the uncomfortable atmosphere.

Tyler and I didn't talk. We just waited.

His mom and sister came back in and sat down.

"So…" Diane started, "How's therapy going Tyler?"

Therapy? What?

I look at Tyler confused.

He pinches the bridge of his nose and exhales loudly.

"Mom, you know I don't like talking about that. And I don't go anymore anyway."

_Go where? Why? _

"Why don't you go anymore? I can tell just from tonight that you still need it. You know ever since-"

"SHUT UP!" Tyler yelled, growing increasingly angrier by the second.

I had no idea what was going on and why he was so affected by this subject.

"Tyler! Don't shout at me." She turned to me, "I'm sorry Mallory, I'm sure you're used to this by now. "

"Um…no, not really…" I was so confused trying to make sense of what was happening.

Tyler had therapy.

_Why?_

He didn't go anymore.

_Why?_

It was Diane's turn to look confused, "Well, I'm surprised by that! He's had a hard time dealing with his anger issues—"

"MOM!" He was louder this time and slammed his fists on the table.

"What?" She looked shocked, "You haven't told her?"

"NO!" He seemed at a loss of what to say. But he was still fuming. His face was red with anger and fists were curled up tightly on the table.

Anger issues? Tyler?

"Tyler," his mom started calmly, "It's ok to let people in, it's completely understandable considering the circumstances. Ever since—"

"DON'T say it. Don't even THINK about it!" He stood up abruptly, his chair scraping noisily across the floor, and strode out the room.

"Seems as though the therapy wasn't working anyway," Diane sighed. "I'm surprised he didn't tell you about his anger problems. I'm even more surprised you hadn't figured it out yet! Maybe you do bring out the best of him…" She trailed off.

Caroline was still sitting there quietly, she had a few tears running down her cheek.

"Mom, please can I leave the table?"

"Of course sweetie, "she said, noticing the distress her daughter was in.

Caroline scurried off out the room so just me and Diane were left. I was still bewildered by what had just happened. Tyler hadn't shown any signs of anger problems with me. And what was his mom going to say, _ever since… _what?

"Um, I think I'll go check on Tyler," I excused myself from the table and went into the hallway, not knowing where to look for him.

Luckily I didn't have to look far. I found him in their front room, sitting on the sofa with his head in his hands. He was breathing deeply, trying to calm down.

I closed the door behind me and quietly sat down next to him. He might not want me here after all, I'd never seen him like this before.

"Tyler…" I started, seeing if I'd get a response.

"Tyler, baby?" I used his nickname for me, hoping that he'd like it as much as I did. I reached out and gently stroked his back.

At first he flinched away from me, but after a few moments he seemed to relax.

I moved closer and wrapped my arm around him. I needed to comfort him, I hated seeing him this upset and angry.

"Mallory…"

"I'm right here, Tyler, look at me." I coaxed.

He slowly lifted his head out of his hands and turned to me.

He faced me with the most heart wrenchingly sad expression I'd ever seen. His cheeks were tear stained and his eyes were red from crying.

I felt myself tear up too, but blinked them away so I would seem strong.

I pulled him into a hug. I didn't care whether he had anger issues or not, he had been nothing but a gentleman to me.

"I'm so sorry Mallory," he sobbed into my shoulder, "I should have told you."

"It seems like we've both been keeping some secrets," I laughed, thinking about how much we still didn't know about each other.

"And," I continued, "I don't care about the anger thing Tyler." I had to make sure he knew that.

He pulled back from the hug. "Mallory, I need to tell you something."

"What is it?"

"You remember the first time I told you that I loved you?"

I nodded my head, happily remembering one of my fondest memories.

"Well," he took a deep breath and looked me directly in the eyes, "I lied."


End file.
